Alumni Updates

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.

Patricia (Patty) Brown

Natural Resources, 1977

Patty retired twice, but you might not know it from how busy she still is. Her first career was as a park ranger for California State Parks in the redwoods and the desert, the National Park Service in Alaska at Katmai and Lake Clark, then on the Kenai Wildlife Refuge, ending in 1995. She then decided to pursue a less itinerant life as a middle school science teacher in Alaska. Currently, she volunteers on the ambulance crew and does humanitarian work in winter at the U.S.-Mexico Border. She was recently elected to the local planning commission in Haines.

Raymond J. Bogiatto

Wildlife, 1977

Raymond J. Bogiatto, 1977 Wildlife, received his Master of Science in Biology from California State University, Chico in 1986. Bogiatto then worked at Eagle Lake Station as a station manager from 1989-2009. Bogiatto has been serving as a faculty member teaching biology at CSU Chico since 1987 to present day.

Tim Hamaker

Fisheries Biology, 1977

Has been on an assignment to Southern California since March, 2010 acting as the Environmental Compliance Manager for a 1+ billion dollar wind energy project near Tehachapi-Mojave.

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…

Christie L. Fairchild

Natural ResourcesEnv. Ed., 1976

Christie Fairchild, Natural Resources, 1976, feels that HSU and, in particular, Dr. Rudy Becking, launched her career as a passionate, environ-mental activist. Job-wise, she enjoyed many years as a seasonal National Park Service ranger, working from Pt. Reyes to Redwood to Olympic to Denali to North Cascades. She settled and homesteaded in North Cascades National Park, in upper Skagit, in 1982. In addition, she worked for six years for the US Forest Service in fire, visitor services, and interp planning. She also spent 20+ years as an environmental educator for two different non-profits. Fairchild met and married her husband Art Olson here and they homestead and grow food as well as have 30 acres of hay for sale. They also raise and use their mules in the fields as well as on back country trails. Fairchild is now living with ALS.

Deb (Lewis) Parker

Wildlife, 1976

Deb (Lewis) Parker, 1976, Wildlife Management, retired from the federal government in 2014 after a 36-year career. She still works full time as a senior staff assistant with the nonprofit National Conference of State Legislatures, in Denver. Parker started her career as a rodent-control biologist with the Peace Corps in Niger, West Africa. She then spent 24 years with the U.S. Forest Service as a wildlife biologist and public affairs specialist working in Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and Colorado. Parker’s next 10 years were with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Colorado, where she was the writer, editor and web manager for national wildlife refuge conservation plans in the service’s Mountain-Prairie Region. Parker and her husband, Andy (a retired wildland firefighter), adopted their daughter, Tai, from China in 1994. Tai is currently a junior at HSU with double majors in psychology and CRGS (Critical Race, Gender, and Sexuality Studies). Parker’s weekends often involve competing in dog agility trials with her feisty terrier, Jagger.

Bob Freeman

Biological Sciences, 1976

The third volume of the SciFi series "H2LiftShips - Bosons Wave" by local author, Bob Freeman, is now out in the wild. The author is a graduate of HSU with a Masters in Biology and a retired Public Health Laboratory Director (Imperial County). In the classic Space Opera SciFi style, he takes the reader from one end of California to the other. They ditch the red roadster and the trip continues to Luna, the asteroid belt, and beyond. More information, sample chapters, and the dreaded 'Trigger Warning' can be found here.  

 

Rick Tholen

Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1976

After graduating, Rick continued to work seasonally for the Shasta Trinity NF until he was hired on permanently with the FS in Potlatch, ID. From there he went to work for the BLM in Medford, OR. Transferred to a BLM office in Missoula, MT, and then to Boise, ID, where he worked for the Washington Office and then at the National Interagency Fire Center. In Boise, he earned a Master's from Idaho. He retired with 34 years of federal service in 2010. He still lives in Eagle, Idaho (31 years now) and stays active by hiking, backpacking, biking, and golfing.

Bob Freeman

Biological Sciences, 1976

Bob is retired from Imperial County as a Public Health Lab Director, He is also supporting his Laboratory Information System while writing more SciFi Novels

H2LiftShips Vol 1-3 Beyond Luna
H2LiftShips Vol 4 A back Story
And Vol 5 is a slow slog forward
Links to books:
https://www.h2liftship.com/beyondluna
https://www.h2liftship.com/backstory

The stories take place in the Desert, Humboldt, Yosemite, Phobos, the Asteroid Belt, and beyond with Solar Sail Ships and a few rockets thrown in for good measure.