Alumni Updates

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.

Jocelyn Keranen

Geography, 2013

Jocelyn Keranen, 2013 Geography, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tanzania, where she worked on agriculture and gender empowerment projects in a small village near the Great Rift Valley and Masai Steppe. After two years living in a village she added another year onto her service. Currently, Keranen is serving in Dar es Salaam as the National Malaria Coordinator. After my service, she plans on pursuing a Master’s of Public Health in Global Health

Kelly Jean Muth

Geography, 2012

Kelly Jean Muth, 2012 Geography, has been pursuing her goals of becoming a professional disc golfer. After graduating from HSU, where she participated in the Humboldt State Disc Golf Club, Muth has participated in several national competitions and has been ranked No. 26 in the world by the Professional Disc Golf Association.

Yang Yang

Geographysecond BA: International Studies, 2011 (Spring)

After I graduated from Humboldt in May 2011 with two BAs in Geography and International Studies, I went to London School of Economics and Political Science to pursue a MSc in Human Geography and Urban Studies Research. After completing my course work at the LSE, since August 2012, I proceeded to the PhD program in Cultural Geography at University of Colorado at Boulder to do research in ethnic studies in China.

Aquila Flower

Geography, 2004

Aquila Flower, 2004, Geography, lived out of a backpack in New Zealand and South America, in a coffee shack in Hawai'i, and on a tiny sailboat in the San Juan Islands after graduating. Flower then moved to Victoria, British Columbia, where she completed a Master of Science in Geography and worked as a geospatial and statistical analyst at a climate change research institute. She fell in love with teaching and with dendrochronology research, and is pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Oregon. Flower has accepted her “dream job” as Assistant Professor of Geography at Western Washington University in Bellingham, where she teaches Physical Geography and geographic information systems.

Joel Correia

Geography, 2004

Since graduating from the HSU Geography program I have worked in a variety of international development jobs from a non-profit in Kenya, to serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay, and also designing my own projects to increase educational opportunities for rural youth in Paraguay. The last project took me on a six month, 5,000 mile bicycle tour through South America to raise funds and awareness about the project. In May of 2012, I graduated with a Master of Arts degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Arizona. I am excited to continue my education in geography at University of Colorado at Boulder where I will pursue a PhD.

Joshua Brookshire

Geography, 2004

Is working for bandelier National Monument as a lead helitack crewmember.

Mark Pignatelli

Geography, 2004

Mark's time at Humboldt State in the early 2000s had a profound impact on the man he is today. His graduation pledge was to use his life to actively work toward a more socially and environmentally responsible world. 

Shortly after graduating, his professional career began in the renewable energy and energy efficiency space. For the past 20 years, his profession has focused on energy efficiency consulting. He is currently a Director with ICF and leads a team of consultants who design, implement, and evaluate programs that help our clients achieve energy, environmental, and economic goals. His skills include project management, sustainable development, energy assessments, and building science. His passion is to create innovative solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance energy security, and improve the quality of life for communities. The energy efficiency programs he supports are designed to help builders, developers, and homeowners adopt high-performance building practices, technologies, and standards that increase energy savings, comfort, and durability.

Mark says Humboldt was and will always be a magical and inspiring place to live, learn, and love. His Humboldt professors, friends, and family opened doors of perception that allowed him to see and understand the world through a new lens. These influences and learnings resulted in his passion for the environment and the precious home he calls Earth. 

Robert David Short

Geography, 2002

Robert David Short, 2002 Geography spent time traveling the U.S. and had the opportunity to take a boat from Humboldt Bay to Wrangell, Alaska after graduation. It was a 38-day trip and the last 500 miles were traveled solo. I worked with the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Forest Service before finally landing a job with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Ocean Service as a physical scientist helping to update and acquire charts used for ocean navigation.After graduation, I spent time traveling the US and had the opportunity to take a boat from Humboldt Bay to Wrangell, Alaska. It was a 38 day trip and the last 500 miles were traveled solo. I worked with the Army Corps of Engineers and the US Forest Service before finally landing a job with NOAA's National Ocean Service as a physical scientist helping to update and acquire charts used for ocean navigation.

Verena Kellner

Geography, 2001

With work being slow my fiance Mike and I are taking time off to sail our 38' sailboat from Mexico to Australia via the South Pacific Islands. You can follow our journey on our blog at www.pacificsailors.com