Alumni Updates


Greg Williams, 1980
Submitted: August 5, 2023
Greg is the former co-owner of a Humboldt County solar design and build company. His son is also a Humboldt graduate. Greg and his family migrated to the western Washington area where Greg is a Senior Solar Design Consultant, NABCEP certified, and an active pilot flying aerobatics and shares his aviation skills with the next generation. Currently, Greg is working on a team building an Electric motor glider for pilot training. He was recently awarded the FAA 50-year Master Pilot award.  

Emily Frances Klee, 2017
Submitted: March 16, 2023
After graduating from Humboldt State, Emily went off to grad school and got a Master's in Mechanical Engineering. She then moved out to Huntsville, AL, and worked at NASA in the Environmental Control and Life Support System Branch. After 2 years of loving her job, but hating the area, she decided to move to Fort Collins, CO. She is now an Operations Manager at a local non-profit food rescue, Vindeket Foods.

Stephen Oram "SeaCowboy", 1985
Submitted: January 26, 2023
Stephen Oram ('85, Environmental Resources Engineering) obtained his final civil engineering degree from Oregon State University in 1985 after four solid years of Environmental Engineering at Humboldt. He worked in Washington at the Bremerton Shipyard for five years, at a consulting firm in Portland Oregon for some ten years, at the Rosenburg Oregon Department of Transportation for a few years, and then at the City of Springfield Oregon for a few years. He then moved to Australia, Canberra, Cairns, Brisbane, and now Perth. Oram is now retired and surfs every day in Western Australia.   

RICHARD MOORE, 1992
Submitted: July 21, 2021

Richard has been working steadily as a civil engineer since he left HSU in 1991. He worked a variety of positions in consulting and local and Federal government. He has also ran a small consulting business full- and part-time since 1998; worked a few years for the Indian Health Service; worked 3 years doing fish habitat improvement projects for WA Conservation Districts; and, for the last year, has been a staff Civil Engineer with the Economic Development Administration in Seattle. It's a great job: everyone loves you when you have loads of money to give away. Well, almost everone.


Gary Newman, 1977
Submitted: December 20, 2019

After graduation, Gary Newman, Environmental Resources Engineering, 1977, went to Utah State University and earned a Masters in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Upon graduation from USU, he was hired by Brown and Caldwell Consulting Engineers (BC), in their Pasadena, California office. Newman has continued working with BC for the past 41 years saying "they have treated me well and provided some wonderful professional opportunities." His specialty has been wastewater treatment. Besides, Pasadena, he has lived and worked in Salt Lake City, Dallas, Seattle, and now Phoenix. He has also worked on projects in Vancouver, B.C., Washington D.C, New York, Nashville and San Francisco. Newman says he will be mostly retiring in the next year or so but will continue working part-time.


Carla Fisher, 1985
Submitted: October 8, 2019

Carla Fisher, Environmental Resources Engineering, 1985, retired in 2014 after 29 years at the Environmental Protection Agency and became a part-time technical writer/editor for Akana, an environmental consulting firm in Bellevue, Washington.


Eileen Cashman, 1984
Submitted: September 13, 2019

Eileen Cashman, Environmental Resources Engineering, 1984, is starting her 21st year teaching at Humboldt State University in the ERE program. This year she started her second term as Department Chair. She continues to love her job and is grateful to engage with current and future alumni every day!


Michael Fritschi, 2005
Submitted: May 24, 2019

Michael Fritschi, Environmental Resources Engineering, 2005, is currently enjoying working as the District Manager for the South Suburban Sanitary District in Southern Oregon. Life is exceptionally good, and in complete balance with his wife and jack Russell.


Heidi Gehlhaar Oriol, 2001
Submitted: May 8, 2019

Heidi Gehlhaar Oriol, Environmental Resources Engineering, 2001, is a licensed Civil Engineer and has worked for water and wastewater utilities in the Bay Area and Sacramento since her graduation from HSU in 2001. She currently works as a Senior Civil Engineer in the Legislative and Regulatory Affairs office for the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District (Regional San) and the Sacramento Area Sewer District (SASD). She enjoys her role as a regulatory advocate and is also very excited to be supporting a project to bring recycled water to agriculture in southern Sacramento County. Heidi believes use of recycled water will reduce groundwater pumping, raise groundwater levels, increase flows in nearby streams, and improve wetland and vernal pool habitats.


Todd M. Thompson, 1992
Submitted: October 18, 2017

Todd M. Thompson, Environmental Resources Engineering, 1992, is an experienced Senior Water Resources Engineer with the Department of Water Resources. He's currently, the DWR lead for validated water loss audit reporting.