Breadcrumb
Alumni Updates
Recent Alumni Updates
Shiloh (Green) Soto
Environmental Studies, 2016
After graduating from Humboldt, Shiloh earned her M.A. in Interdisciplinary Humanities at UC Merced, where she will also graduate with her Ph.D. in Spring 2024. Shiloh's graduate work is housed in the Department of History & Critical Race and Ethnic Studies and analyzes a public history project she directed about the San Joaquin Valley's City of Livingston. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Shiloh and her spouse decided to move back to Humboldt with their child, and she found exciting work on campus in Cal Poly Humboldt's College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences as the College Graduate Programs & Recruitment Coordinator!
Paige Williams
Environmental Studies, 2016
Paige has been living in Portland for the past 10 years and working as a software engineer for the past six years, mostly trying to work on applying software to environmental justice issues. Paige worked at a startup that was monitoring air quality in environmental justice communities for five years. She recently started working as a software engineer at Ecotrust, a non-profit based in Portland that works at the intersection of equity, environment, and economy. Paige has been focused on an Indigenous knowledge database, which has been built in partnership with the Tribal Marine Stewardship Network. She is excited about working with tribes in the Humboldt area. Ecotrust also has a partnership with Cal Poly Humboldt on their Indigenous Agroforestry Network. Paige says working here has really felt like a full-circle moment. She cites her interdisciplinary degree as one of the successes she's had over the past 10 years. She feels that it has given her a compass for which to apply her skills.
Mariko-(Jade) Takimoto
International Studies, 2016
After graduation, Mariko-(Jade) Takimoto, International Studies, 2016, was fortunate enough to teach a year abroad in Seville, Spain. Once she returned to the states, she worked as an advisor for entertainment-art students at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. Now she is a Recruiter/Sourcer for Sony PlayStation - Santa Monica Studio, God of War team. Takimoto says, "none of this would have been possible if not for the support of the HSU staff & faculty, especially those in the World Languages & Cultures Dept., International Studies Dept., and Center for International Programs. Thank you all for the support you have shown me and your willingness to continue to inspire students to be the very best version of themselves. Thank you HSU! 3"
Mason Gedanken
Geography, 2016
Mason Gedanken, 2016 Geography, landed a job with a consulting company as an intern. The job primarily consists of OSP, and fiber optics, and have Gedanken has learned quite a bit about utility poles, and how Telecom works. Gedanken has been out in the field collecting data from utility poles like Pole Tag, class, anchor information, telephone, and cable TV. Recently, he has been making maps of pole information using Google’s My Maps and plotting where the poles and the strands are located.
John Soener
International Studies, 2nd Major: Spanish, 2016
After having completed two years of Peace Corps service in Nicaragua John Soener, International Studies, 2016, will be attending graduate school at Indiana University. John will be pursuing a Masters in Public Affairs, focusing specifically on nonprofit management and policy analysis. His International Studies and Spanish degrees were a great way to start his career in public service and Peace Corps was an incredible career booster that has provided him incredible opportunities to fund graduate school.
Marilyn Liu
International Studies, 2016
Marilyn Liu, 2016, International Studies, recently completed her Master's program for International Business and Management from Durham University in the U.K. She spent the last few months of grad school participating in a Dissertation Abroad Scheme with Grenoble Ecole de Management in France. While in France, Marilyn received a grant from the European Union and researched how feminist theories of technology and the theory of intersectionality can improve corporate social responsibility.
Mia Kennel
Anthropology, 2016
Mia Kennel, 2016 Anthropology, started graduate school at the University of Wisconsin Madison's Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies. Kennel is in the the graduate Environmental Conservation program, widely considered the best program of it's type in the United States.
Fernando William Manzanera
International Studies, European Studies, 2016
Fernando William Manzanera, International Studies, 2016, moved to the Czech Republic February 1, 2017, to be with his girlfriend. He's been living here for 20 months now and works as a teacher and in IT Support for a Swiss insurance company. Life is pretty great. :-)
Aaron Louis Cobas
Politics, Minor: Environmental Policy, 2016
Since graduating, Aaron Louis Cobas, Politics, 2016, has been trying to acquire his dream position that he has wanted since the age of nine years old. Last December, that dream came true. Cobas has accepted a full-time position as a Park Ranger for New Mexico State Parks. Ever since he was little his fondest memories have been going up into the Sierras, as well as Yosemite and Joshua Tree, looking at the majesty that is our public lands. Because of the education and training he received at HSU he has an exciting new chapter in life and the new adventures that come with it.
April Alexander
Social Work, Master's of Social Work, 2015 and 2016
April Alexander, 2015 Social Work and 2016 Master’s of Social Work, is a Clinical Social Worker at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Eureka. She recently presented at the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) 33rd National Oncology Conference. Alexander’s presentation, “Rural Chemotherapy Clinic Student Volunteer Support Program,” was a program she designed and implemented in collaboration with the HSU Social Work Department in the infusion clinic at St. Joseph Hospital’s Cancer Program to better serve the patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment and to support the medical staff in the clinic. The conference was attended by more than 600 cancer care professionals from across the country.



