Alumni Updates

Duncan McClusky

Fisheries Biology, 1978

It is not really a recent update. I was in the Ecology Outdoor Group at HSU and I have continued volunteering time in the community. I generally volunteer between 300-400 hours each year. I have been chair of Keep Tift Beautiful for six years, Secretary of the Tree Board for five years, maintain four adopt a miles on my own and help on four others with different organizations. I have been Secretary for a Kiwanis Club for many years, I was on the Georgia Circle K District board as an assistant administrator for about nine years, and participated in five Circle K International Large Scale Service Projects. I have volunteered at the local, state and international level with Special Olympics. I have volunteered with paralympic sports for 17 years.

Dennis A. Hansell

Biological Sciences, 1978

Oceanography professor at the University of Miami, FL. Research focuses on the ocean carbon cycle, with particular interest in the role of organic matter. Presently serve as Chairman of the United States Carbon Cycle Scientific Steering Group. Research cruise in Feb/March 2013 in the Ross Sea of the Southern Ocean (53 days at sea) followed by June cruise in Gulf of Alaska.

Rita Carman

Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1978

Carman graduated from HSU in 1978 with a degree in Forestry Science and a minor in Geology and worked for the USGS Water Resources in Carson City, Nevada, from 1979 to 1998 as a Hydrologist. She then went on to Nevada State from 1998 to 2016. She has been happily retired since 2016, is involved in the community, and a member of the Carson City Kiwanis since 1991. Living the good life!

Christopher Swarth

Biological Sciences, 1978

After graduating, Christopher Swarth Biological Sciences, 1978, moved back home to Oakland where in 1983 he received his MS in Zoology from Cal State East Bay. After working for Point Reyes Bird Observatory, Lawrence Hall of Science (UC Berkeley) and Diablo Valley College, he married in 1987 and moved to Maryland. There he spent 23 years as director of the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, one of the components of the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. In 2013, he moved back to northern California to work and teach at UC Merced, where he was the director of the 6,500 acre Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve adjacent to campus until he retired in 2016. He lives in Mariposa.

Barbara Scaroni

Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1978

Barbara Scaroni has managed to stay a dirt forester over the many years. Scaroni is still out marking and cruising timber, administering timber sales, running property lines, and writing environmental assessments, timber sale contracts, and researching the land use history of my timber sale areas. During college, Scaroni worked summers for the BLM in Ukiah, CA; Missoula, MT; Rawlins, WY; and Susanville, CA. Scaroni worked USFS in Cave Junction, OR, and Willows CA. Scaroni had permanent jobs after graduation with the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs 1980-1990; Malheur National Forest, Burns, OR, 1990-1993; Coeur d'Alene Tribe, 1993-present.

Raymond ("Jay") Joseph Bogiatto II

Wildlife, 1977

Jay died of brain cancer July 4th. He was so proud of his HSU experience and education. Here are links to the obituary and a write-up by CSU, Chico.

https://today.csuchico.edu/fond-farewell-jay-bogiatto/

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/chicoer/name/raymond-bogiatto-obit…

Timothy Hamaker

Fisheries Biology, 1977

Timothy Hamaker, 1977, Fisheries Biology, retired after 37 years as Fisheries/Aquatic Biologist in August. Hamaker began his career in 1977 and worked for four years as a Biologist for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Gulf Breeze, Fl., environmental research lab. Hamaker then moved to Environmental Research and Technology Inc., in Ft. Collins, Colo., working as a Fisheries Biologist. From 1986 to 1988 Hamaker acted as President and Principal Scientist at Aquatic BioSystems Inc., also in Ft. Collins. He then spent more than 25 years with CH2MHILL Inc. as a consulting Fishery Biologist, spending the last 23 years in Redding, Calif. Hamaker is married to Hoagy (Gilliam) Hamaker. The couple has six children including two HSU grads Nicholas ('02, '03) and Robin (Ray) Hamaker ('11) and five grandchildren. The couple resides in Redding, Calif.

Gene Blankenbaker

Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1977

Gene Blankenbaker, Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1977, is retiring in January 2019 after over 41 years of service with the federal government. He spent approximately 2 years with the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resource Division as a groundwater hydrologist, and over 39 years with the U.S. Forest Service in a variety of locations in California, Washington D.C., Arizona, Wisconsin and New Mexico, in positions that included hydrologist, forester, district ranger, forest supervisor, deputy regional forester, and deputy director of human resources for the agency.

Marilyn Taylor

Mathematics, 1977

Marilyn Taylor, Women of the Year, 1976, HSU, passed away on March 15, 2023, in Spokane, Washington. Marilyn, and her 99 Humboldt State teammates, broke the old record of a 100-mile Relay Race, with the time of 12:26:13 (1976). Marilyn set the PA-AAU record for a One-Hour Run on the track (1977) and holds the Avenue of the Giants Women's Marathon record, 2:45:40 (1984), which stands today. Despite her many winning races, Marilyn Taylor felt the highlight of her track career running in the historic First Olympic Women's Marathon Trials, on May 12, 1984, in Olympia, Washington.

Gene Blankenbaker

Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1977

Gene Blankenbaker, 1977 Forestry & Wildland Resources, transferred to the position of Deputy Director for Human Resources for the U.S. Forest Service last spring.