Alumni Updates
Alumni - Send us your updates!
The Environmental Studies Program is a relatively new program, first established in 2012. Since graduating, our alumni have been up to some pretty great things! If you're an alumni of ENST, we would love to hear about what you're up to. Please, send us your updates using the link below or email the ENST program leader, Dr. Sarah Ray at Sarah.Ray@humboldt.edu.
Email Program Leader Sarah Ray
Alumni Updates
Aerin Monroe, Class of 2024
Aerin currently works as the Co-Founder and Co-Director of Pathways of Purpose (POP), a local nonprofit which seeks to empower youth and the community to dream big for their lives and the world by providing asset-based, STEAM educational and vocational programs, addressing the growing risks of climate change, social and economic inequities with movement building towards sustainable systems.
He was an active student in his time at Cal Poly Humboldt while pursuing the Community Organizing emphasis, focusing his academic and activist energy on food and land justice for Black, Indigenous and People of Color. He engaged his extracurricular activism and organizing in the form of work with local tribes, farmers, ranchers and nonprofits which included a short film on environmental justice and racism in Humboldt County (Sowing Seeds, a collaboration with filmmaker Valentina Dimas, ENST ‘23) that earned him the prestigious Outstanding Student of the Year Award in 2024 and a Climate Justice Champion Award from KBLA Talk 1580 with Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West.
He is also a writer, media producer, environmental consultant and father of 2. With a background in natural landscaping, regenerative agriculture, horticulture, journalism and land management, Aerin’s work is focused on Afro-Indigenous land practices and stewardship, climate and environmental justice, sustainable food systems, ecosystem restoration and land/food sovereignty for BIPOC communities.
Grace Clapper, Class of 2024
Grace Clapper am moving to Fort Bragg in Mendocino County to start a new job with the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission as a Fisheries Technician on August 5th. I will be working along the Ten Mile River, focusing on trapping and PIT tagging Coho salmon. I am thrilled about this opportunity to contribute to the conservation efforts and look forward to the challenges and new learning experiences ahead.
Zachary Meyer, Class of 2024
I currently serve as an advisor for Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action, an appointed Menlo Park Environmental Quality Commissioner, and the communications director for a State Assembly Campaign. This fall, I will begin my MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, focusing on Atmosphere and Energy Science. The ENST program equipped me with essential skills and inspired me to challenge preconceived notions about sustainability. ENST has taught me the importance of community as resilience and fun as resistance, principles that I aspire to bring to Stanford. My future goals include conducting research in the Stanford Social Ecology Lab and continuing my work in grassroots environmental policy.
Carlrey Arroyo, Class of 2017
I am Xicanx with Yoeme roots. I grew up in Southern California, and have been a guest on Wiyot land for the last 8 ½ years. I am a 2017 alum from Cal Poly Humboldt where I received my B.A. in Environmental Studies with an emphasis in community organizing. In my time there, I attained minors in Economics and Philosophy of Ethics and Values. I have organized locally around social and environmental justice issues with different organizations and groups as both a student and community member. Additionally, I have 6 years of non-profit experience, ranging from program coordination to donor development.
Food Sovereignty is what I am most passionate about. I have been building my skills as a farmer for the last 5 years. I have worked at various local organic farms, organized Sanctuary gardens throughout Humboldt aimed for Indigenous migrant community and currently co-manage a QTBIPOC mini-farm called Spoonhouse Gardens.
I am inspired and motivated by Indigenous and BIPOC communities that continue to protect land and water at all costs against extractive and pollutant industries. I am responsible to my family, niblings and future kin in the fight to ensure they have access to water, air, seeds, soil and a biodiverse environment free from oppression. I am accountable to the community when called upon to show up and act for our collective liberation.
Joining the NEC team as it enters its 51st year is exciting. I look forward to supporting the administrative functions of the organization while offering my perspective and ideas to the team as we move towards the next 50 crucial years for action in protection of Mother Earth and our communities.
Elena Bilheimer, Class of 2021
Elena Bilheimer graduated in winter of 2021 with a degree in Environmental Studies and a minor in journalism from Cal Poly Humboldt. In her studies she mainly focused on the importance of incorporating social justice with environmental activism to work towards creating a more liberated and sustainable world. The environmental studies program at Cal Poly Humboldt was instrumental in shaping how she approaches environmental problems from an intersectional perspective that views humans and nature as intimately interconnected and inseparable. Her experience as the Media Production Fellow for the program helped develop her passion for graphic design and media. She is especially interested in learning more about how art and writing can be used as tangible tools to promote activism.
Her other passions include being outside, camping, gardening, reading, design, and cooking. The best recipe she has made recently was giant crinkled chocolate chip cookies from The New York Times. She is loving that she has more time to enjoy books and other journalists’ writing now that she isn’t so overwhelmed by homework. Her favorite place in Humboldt is the hike to Strawberry Rock to enjoy the expansive views and connect with the North Coast flora and fauna.
Since graduating, Elena has transitioned from being the EcoNews Journalism Intern to the EcoNews Journalist. Her favorite part of the job is getting to talk to people in the community who inspire her and are doing amazing work for the earth and its inhabitants. She wants to continue to develop her interview skills so as to better communicate local stories and voices to the NEC community. Elena loves being part of the NEC team and contributing to such an important Humboldt organization!
Savanna Schaffer, Class of 2018
After growing up in a racially homogenous, conservative area of California, Savanna found herself and her positionality through her time in the Environmental Studies Program. Her emphasis was Ecology and Conservation, and she began her journey solely prioritizing environmental and wildlife conservation, without understanding the depth of intersectionality with the structures of power and privilege globally impacting communities. After moving away from Humboldt County to explore professional opportunities and relationships, she came back to pursue a Master's degree in Social Work at CPH. The way she has been able to “build a diverse, activist community, rooted in love, reparations, resistance, resilience, and justice, is all thanks to the worldview I developed through ENST.” She plans to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and engage in behavioral health support and therapy centering the worldview and goals of those she has the privilege to serve. She hopes to specialize in the intersections of sex and non-traditional relationship dynamics; queerness, gender and transition; trauma and mental illness, and radical honesty, consent, and communication. She lives with her two partners, sibling, and their three cats.
Colin Mateer, Class of 2018
Colin is currently based in Albuquerque, New Mexico and works remotely as a Decarbonization Consultant at CLEAResult, an energy efficiency and sustainability consulting firm. In his role, Colin focuses on developing and managing key programs in collaboration with the Colorado Energy Office to reduce carbon emissions and promote clean energy. In delivering these innovative grant and tax credit programs, he draws from years of interdisciplinary experience, including his academic background at Cal Poly Humboldt (then Humboldt State University) and his work in the public and private sectors. Through these diverse experiences, Colin delivers creative problem-solving, effective program development and administration, and customer/client satisfaction. His work spans a diverse range of technology types and involves collaboration with various stakeholders to provide transformative solutions.
Francesca Watts, Class of 2018
After graduating, Francesca spent her seventh summer as a Youth Conservation Corps crew leader for the National Park Service where she led 15-18 year olds out on the trails doing trail maintenance and introducing them to the world of working with your hands in the outdoors. Afterwards, she went on her first international trip abroad to Patagonia Chile, where she would later end up spending 4 years farming organic vegetables and fruits in the most extreme south of the world. She fell in love and helped start a new farm in a small Patagonian community. Later she was offered to manage an organic farm in Torres del Paine National Park and hosted new volunteers from all over the world every month. She has since returned to California where she has begun co-managing an 1,800 acre regenerative ranch with a 2 acre food forest. Francesca has found a deep connection to the importance of food sovereignty and privilege in the regenerative farming movement. She has ENST to thank for “opening my eyes to the change that’s possible in community and the significance of my place in it all.”
Maricela Wexler, Class of 2017
When Maricela was an undergrad in ENST with an emphasis in Community Organizing, she observed how many of her peers were struggling to effectively communicate about the issues most important to them. Students were eager to make a difference with the information they were learning, and needed more practice and tools (don’t we all!) to communicate in ways that could support and advance critical change.
This inspired Maricela to partner with Humboldt Mediation Services (HMS) to design a workshop on campus called “Conversations Matter” which aimed to equip students and community members with some of the essentials for non-violent communication around common polarizing topics. She continued volunteering with HMS, which deepened her passion for and understanding of conflict resolution as a key part of systems change. For her capstone learning project, Maricela completed the Community Mediator Training through HMS and proceeded to volunteer and serve as a community mediator with the organization for several years. Maricela also developed an assignment for ENST 395, “Curious, Compassionate Conversation,” which students piloted in the years following her time here.
In her final year in the ENST program, Maricela continued to develop her interest and experiences supporting people to gather meaningfully to create change. She started to assist local social justice and sustainability champion Heather Equinoss (Equinoss Consulting and CoCreative) on local community engagement and institutional strategy initiatives with the City of Arcata, Humboldt Office of Education, and others. This work led Maricela to pursue a position in non-profit development as a fundraiser and leadership council member with Dell’Arte International and later to her work as the community coordinator and administrator for the international Illuminate Systems Change Network, and finally to her current role with CoCreative.
CoCreative is a consultancy that works nationally and internationally supporting people to solve complex, systemic challenges, together. The team supports leaders to build their capacities to be systems change champions and designs multi stakeholder networks to solve a range of complex problems like revitalizing economically distressed communities, rebuilding non-GMO food supply chains, expanding employee ownership, and eliminating harsh toxins from electronics manufacturing.
Since her time in ENST, Maricela has been committed to supporting the work of teams, organizations, networks, and communities and strengthening individual and collective capacities to affect change. Currently, with CoCreative, she provides project management and facilitation for collaboratives around the globe.
Shiloh Green, Class of 2016
After graduation in Fall 2016, I moved to Imperial Valley and worked at the USDA in the Natural Resources Conservation Service as a Farm Bill Assistant, but before I was even offered that job, I was accepted to a fully-funded, five-year PhD program at UC Merced in the Interdisciplinary Humanities department. Needless to say, my stint at the USDA was short-lived.
Fast forward a year later, I'm living in Merced, teaching at UCM, and doing work in community decolonization and resistance. Grad school is incredibly demanding (considering we read about three 200-page books every week + work 20 hours a week as TAs), but it's easily one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done, plus I get to make my own hours for the most part.
We also adopted a Corgi-mix rescue named Dave who's the most perfect pup, and life is great!
Kylie Mosbacher, Class of 2016
Hi there! My name is Kylie Mosbacher, and I graduated from the ENST Program December of 2016 with a minor in Writing! Progressing through the ENST major was an invaluable experie
nce. Through the support of the program's incredible faculty and the rigorous and rewarding coursework, I entered 2017 equipped with the confidence to pursue several independent projects.
Through the enduring connections made with faculty, current and former students, and the larger Humboldt community, I was able to bring many dreams to fruition, including the opportunity to present original research at the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment (ASLE) 12th Biennial Conference in Detroit, Michigan this past June! Earlier that spring, I was honored to participate in the "New Approaches to Conservation Conflicts" Symposium with the Center for Tropical Ecology and Conservation through Antioch University New England. Since then I have been hard at work finishing up my first children's book, Sammich and Rumples Meet the Wolf in the Woods, the first in a series on wildlife of conservation interest in the North Coast and Pacific Northwest regions of the United States. Keep an eye out–the book should be out in Humboldt County bookstores by early May of 2018! I am now eagerly waiting to hear back on my applications to graduate school–fingers crossed!
Emma Stokes, Class of 2016
After graduating in Spring 2016, I decided to stick around! I’m currently working as the Strategy Coordinator & Executive Assistant at Humboldt Area Foundation, a local community foundation based in Bayside.
My interdisciplinary Environment Studies background has been extremely beneficial in my professional life, where every day I’m thinking about how systems function within our community and working to develop strategies to make these systems more equitable.
While Humboldt County certainly faces many challenges, I’m inspired every day by the dedication and care members of our community display, and the great work of organizations and individuals in the area.
When I’m not working, I’m usually hanging out with my awesome housemates and our five chickens—Betty Egg White, Yolko Ono, Amelia Egghart, Goldie Hen, and Princess Laya.
Ivan Soto, Class of 2016
I’m currently a first-year PhD graduate student with the University of California, at Merced. As part of the Interdisciplinary Humanities Graduate Group, I receive five years of funding support through a Teaching Assistantship with research opportunities related to my interest in food insecurity. My TAship involves a course section each semester for about 30 undergraduates with topics ranging from “History of Food,” to “Race, Racism, and Resistance.”
These days, I’m learning as much as I can about food, agriculture and labor, borderlands, and studies in the history of science. These areas inform my future dissertation work for an oral history project on food and perceptions of public health in my hometown.
Before grad school I was an Humboldt-ENST graduate with the class of 2016. Soon after my last semester, I applied my degree and Community Organizing emphasis to work as a Community Organizer with a non-profit along the US-Mexico border. The position didn’t exist with the organization I wanted to work for, but I shared/argued what I could offer and was able to create my job around what I was passionate about. This included collaborative work with the town I grew up in as well as planning awareness campaigns and educational events in the area. I loved my work there, but received an admission letter to graduate school a few months in.
My last year as Humboldt was scheduled around classes, part-time work, graduate school applications, teaching an ENST course, reaching out to nonprofits I wanted to work with, and spending time with some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. (Thank you, Humboldt.) I highly encourage current ENST undergrads to search for ways to apply their ENST degree to what they’re passionate about early on. Find graduate programs you like, contact professors with similar academic interests, and apply ahead of time. The same applies for worked-related moves.
Casey Melligan, Class of 2015
After graduating in 2015, I returned to Santa Rosa due to an illness in the family. I worked a few odd jobs before landing a sweet position in a vegan restaurant whose goals included community embetterment via a homeless work exchange program, as well as providing a myriad of alternative health foods.
It was through this organization that I was able to land an even cooler job working for a non-profit, worker-run alternative health foods store. It’s been through the Red Clover Workers Brigade and, subsequently, The Santa Rosa Community Market, that I have the opportunity to assistant manage the perishables department. The RCWB maintains a strict non-GMO policy, which in essence strives to eliminate GMOs in the health food circuit by providing the most local, most sustainably produced foodstuffs (our motto being Food for People, Not For Profit).
More recently, I have been accepted to the Vermont Law School’s online Masters of Energy Law and Regulation program. It is my sincere hope to use this educational platform to consult and assist at-risk communities from the interests of resource-hungry energy corporations. Several communities, including the 9th ward of New Orleans, have felt the backlash of energy companies in the form of environmental hazards to drinking water, soil quality, and air quality. As a result of these factors, this community was significantly poisoned by Hurricane Katrina, when the failure of the levy system leeched toxic, bitumen-laced water into the 9th ward, and other equally disparate neighborhoods. I want to be on the front lines of preventing that kind of atrocity from ever happening again.
Ashley Perez, Class of 2016
I am a Child Care Specialist with a local non profit family services organization. After graduating in May of 2016, I became passionate about helping children throughout my community have the best start to life. I believe that this enables children to grow into adults that are able to understand and engage fully as environmental, social, and politically conscious warriors.
I have found that this is one of the best ways to strengthen our country and world as we face the vastly complicated problems of the future. I am extremely thankful for pursuing a degree in environmental studies and feel that it helps me in my professional life daily.
Alexander Goforth, Class of 2016
I am a farmhand/instructor for a Non Profit Outdoor-Ed company named Blackbird Farm, located in Anderson Valley (mendocino county). We have a partnership with Charter Schools around the nation who send their high schoolers to our facility to learn leadership skills and sustainability concepts. We are a bed and breakfast when school’s out and offer the same classes to adults and families!
Robin Rader, Class of 2015
I live in a small community and work on many farms and vineyards. During my last semester or two at Humboldt, I really got into food justice stuff, especially after watching Ron Finley's Ted talk and learning about the Guerilla Gardening movements all around the world. I am still interested in the food justice movement! I will continue to volunteer any extra time outside of work, if not start my own garden where ever I move next. There's something about volunteering that I just love; if I could afford to not work and just volunteer my life away with different youth groups and communities setting up gardens or doing environmental restorations projects like I did with the Environmental resource club on campus, that would be ideal.
Harrison Langford, Class of 2015
I work for OASIS outdoor autism and special issues school. I started as a one-on-one instructor and have since been promoted to Community Outreach Manager. The school is located in Watsonville California. We work with severely autistic students who are for the most part non-verbal. I love to help the student surpass their Individualized Education Program goals, it’s really amazing to see them progress.
I have been living in Santa Cruz a little over a year now and I'm loving it. I go sailing weekly when the weather is right and regularly hike and mountain bike as well. I have been checking off items on my bucket list, one being my motorcycle license. I also got myself a motorcycle and ride regularly. Life's been great down here by the beach.
Kelsey Summers, Class of 2017
Hey there ENST-ers! I recently graduated from Humboldt and loved the Environmental Studies program.
My emphasis was Appropriate Technology and now I am building a Tiny House on wheels! I am building with recycled and upcycled materials and will be off grid (eventually)! I am about half way through the build process and I'm looking for property to start a homestead. "Facebook.com/kelseysthow" is my blog!
I was a Co-director at CCAT, check it out on campus if you haven't already! ENST and CCAT helped me pursue my dreams, I encourage you to get out, get your hands dirty, and just show up! Life is short, chase your dream and give it your all.
Tracy Gatumu, Class of 2017
Since graduation I worked a few jobs until I found a fulfilling job as a student finance adviser at Trident International University.
I mostly assist military students with their financial aid, all the nuts and bolts with college costs. On my spare time I read a lot, reconnect with old friends, practice self love, go on little adventures in Socal, and try to stay empowered and inspired.
It’s been really great finally practicing all that I’ve learnt from my awesome degree. Still contemplating as to when I should start my grad school app! Environmental studies is definitely the most amazing major.
