Alumni Updates

Edward (Ed) Busch

Fisheries Biology, 1980

Ed will be retiring from Michigan State University at the end of this week. A short bio can be found at https://michiganstate-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/r/personal/buschedw_msu_edu…

John Alves

Wildlife, 1980

John has retired after a 35-year career as a Colorado Parks and Wildlife fisheries biologist. He managed sport fisheries and native fish, including Rio Grande cutthroat trout. He served as an officer with the Colorado/Wyoming chapter of the American Fisheries Society. He plans to spend more time with his daughter and grandsons, go fishing, and travel to Alaska.

Marianne Lancaster

Biological Sciences, 1979

After 30-plus years of serving as a high school biology teacher in Humboldt County and Riverside County, Marianne retired and took another job serving as the Nature Education Manager for The Nature Education Foundation at the Santa Rosa Plateau in Riverside County, which supports education programs on the 10,000-acre Reserve known as the Santa Rosa Plateau. Emphasis has been on helping high school students become citizen scientists by participating in data collection for the National Phenology Network, which collects data on the seasonal changes in plants and animals with the changing climate.

Adam Cashman

Environmental Science & Management, 2021

Adam Cashman is among the first Peace Corps volunteers to return to overseas service since the agency’s unprecedented global evacuation in March 2020. Cashman wanted to travel to a different country and work in a different ecosystem and hoped to learn more about agriculture, restoration in subtropical ecosystems, and African culture. He is looking forward to making friends along the way and will serve as a volunteer in Zambia in the environment sector.

Kyle Chang

Natural ResourcesNatural Resources Planning and Interpretation, 1997

Kyle retired from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife as a Lieutenant Supervisor for San Bernardino and Riverside Counties after almost 24 years with the Department.

Iris Luana Salamanca

Wildlife, 2018

Iris had the opportunity to serve as a Biological Technician, Public Information Officer, Resource Advisor, Natural Resource and Education Specialist and obtained her red card, allowing her to assist on four wildfires and two prescribed burns this year alone for the Bureau of Land Management Grand Junction Field Office in Colorado. After 4 years, Iris is transferring over to the U.S. Forest Service White River, where she will continue to grow as a Natural Resource Specialist and continue assisting with wildfires in various roles.

Ken Russo

Fisheries Biology, 1993

After graduation, Ken moved to the Sacramento area and worked in the aquaculture industry for 18 years, raising white sturgeon for meat and caviar production. 
In 2011 he switched gears and went to work as a transportation biologist for Caltrans District 3. Ken is currently a Senior Resources Biologist working with staff on delivering projects, permitting, and addressing wildlife connectivity impacts and remediation.

Ken has also been married for 25 years to Tani Russo (Rutherford, Humboldt ‘92) and has one awesome son who just graduated from Chico State!

Rick Williams

Wildlife, 1977

Ricky retired in 2022 after a 45-year career as a wildlife biologist that began with waterfowl research for CDFG and USFWS, including a memorable stint chasing then-endangered Aleutian Canada Geese across their California wintering grounds. From 1980-2022, he worked as a terrestrial biologist and program manager in the private sector, primarily focused on water and energy projects in California and other western states. He credits the late Humboldt professors, Drs. Stan (Doc) Harris and Charles F. (Chuck) Yocum for guiding him into career-long service with The Wildlife Society-Western Section, including terms as President and Representative to the TWS National Council.

Dennis Ray Kogl

Fisheries Biology, 1962

Dennis received his Master of Science in Fisheries Biology from the University of Alaska in 1965. He worked at various jobs with the state in Sport Fish Division in Fairbanks, Alaska, got married, and decided that he was ambivalent about the program in Fairbanks with the state and gravitated to the Denali National Park area, where he started a family and worked seasonally with the National Park Service. After many years, Dennis left the dog driving business and worked full-time with NPS running their Water and Wastewater Systems. He retired in 2004 and stayed in the area.

Richard Sayre

Biological Sciences, 1974

Dr. Richard Sayre is a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer for Mercury Bio Inc. (www.mercurybio.com) based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Mercury Bio Inc. focuses on the targeted delivery of therapeutic RNAs and small molecular weight drugs to human cells to address various viral and genetic diseases. Dr. Sayre recently introduced Mercury Bio's platform drug delivery technology to the pharmaceutical industry at Boston's third mRNA-Based Therapeutics Summit.