Unveiled - Humboldt Magazine - Humboldt State University

PHOTO COURTESY OF NURIT KATZ
Nurit Katz
Building the Eco-Ethic at UCLA
DESPITE GROWING UP IN a dense urban area, Nurit Katz (‘02)
loved the outdoors and science as a child. Now, as sustainability
coordinator for the University of California, Los Angeles, Katz is
putting her Humboldt State lessons to work, helping the campus
become more ecologically friendly.
“I grew up in Los Angeles so I wanted to get away a little bit
when I went to college, ” says Katz. “I lived in a little cottage in
Freshwater. It was a really wonderful experience.”
At HSU, Katz designed her own major in Environmental Education.
She served as co-director of the Environmental Education
program sponsored by Youth Educational Services and
worked with the Humboldt Watershed Council.
“At the Watershed Council we were taking a look at what happened
with the timber industry with excessive logging,” Katz
says. “You have damage not just to the environment, but also to
people’s homes with flooding and to the fisheries because the
salmon population was impacted, and timber workers were losing
their jobs as mills closed. There was no clearer example for
me of how important it is to consider social, environmental and
economic factors—to really look at the triple bottom line.”
Katz is helping UCLA incorporate that triple bottom line
philosophy across campus. She was hired as the sustainability
coordinator last fall, shortly after earning her M.B.A. and Masters
of Public Policy there.
“We’re doing a lot as a campus when it comes to sustainability,”
Katz says of UCLA. “Programs like van pools, ride share
and subsidized transit passes. And, in combination, those efforts
have led to a drive-alone rate of just around 55 percent for
campus where Los Angeles as a whole is 75 percent.”
While she was a student at UCLA, Katz started the Sustainable
Resource Center on campus, which provides resources and
education to the graduate student body, campus and community.
In addition, she helped the university develop a Climate
Action Plan. Thanks to her efforts, the campus expects to meet
its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels
by 2012—eight years early.
Director for Transportation Choices Coalition, after turns at the Northwest
Environmental Education Council and WashPIRG. With a passion for
transportation issues, Rachel is also the Board Chair of the Washington State
Ridesharing Organization. Before moving to Seattle, she was a shorebird
and marine mammal biologist.
Nicole Losch, ‘03 Geography, is a Bicycle, Pedestrian and Environmental
Planner for the City of Burlington, Vt.
Laura Tankersley, ‘03 Journalism, is Senior Account Executive with
Ogilvy PR Worldwide. She lives in Denver, Colo.
Paul Tibbett, ‘04 Geography, works as a park ranger for Redwood
National Park.
Jen Cordaro, ‘05 Geography, is the Community Organizer of Burmese
Refugees in San Diego. Her position is funded through the California
Endowment but staffed through the Alliance for African Assistance. Her
project’s goal is to align the multiple ethnicities from Burma and help them
to create a unified voice to put needs and assets into action. She earned a
master’s degree in International Human Rights Advocacy and Non-profit
Management at the University of New Hampshire. She recently spent 3
weeks in India, working with The Rescue Foundation in Mumbai, to launch
a computer literacy program for girls rescued from human traffickers.
Joel Correia, ‘05 Geography, served in the Peace Corps in Paraguay.
He and partner Karen recently rode bicycles 6,000 miles through South
America to raise donations that will be used to build, remodel and furnish
schools in Paraguay. The donations will also be used to build sanitary
bathrooms at the schools and install running water at each school as well
as provide the schools with computers and didactic materials. Read about
his adventure: bikingtobuildschools.giving.officelive.com
Cachette (De Fazio) Ellie,
‘06 Political Science,
works as a Software
Project Manager in San
Francisco. She actively
serves on racing committees
for Sausalito
and St. Francis Yacht
Clubs while consulting
socially-minded startups
through early stage
development.
Cachette (De Fazio) Ellie on the San Francisco Bay.
Kevin Farley, ‘06 Journalism, is a news producer with KIRO-TV Channel 7
in Seattle. He recently won two Emmy Awards for the Northern California
Area. He says, “Missing the great faculty at HSU Journalism! Send my best
to Mac, Marcy and Dr. Larson.”
Kevin McManigal, ‘06 Geography, works as a GIS Specialist/Cartographer
at Adventure Cycling Association in Missoula, Mont. He began the master’s
program in geography at the University of Montana in fall 2009. He is
married to Anna Tina. Recent travels include exploring the blue ribbon
fly fishing streams of Montana.
Melanie Silva, ‘06 Nursing, is an Army 1st Lieutenant and was deployed
to Iraq in March. She is a member of the 10th Combat Support Hospital
at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Daniel Stauning, ‘07 Geography, is an assistant physical science technician
for the National Park Service Inventory & Monitoring program. The goal of
the program is to conduct long-term ecological monitoring of park resources.
He works for the Sonoran Desert Network based in Tucson, Ariz.
Jorge Sanchez, ‘08 Geography, is in the teacher credential program
at Humboldt.
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HUMBOLDT MAGAZINE | FALL 2009