Geography and Environmental Science Alumni
Since the founding of the Department of Geography in 1945, we are proud of the approximately 800 alumni from our graduate and undergraduate programs. We are always interested to learn of the activities of our alums, so please take a moment to complete the alumni update form using the “Alumni Update” link in the menu.
Moreover, we are extremely grateful to our alumni for their support of the department through financial contributions. Their donations make it possible for us to offer new and exciting programs to our students, provide financial assistance to our graduate students to support their research expenses and to attend conferences to present their research, maintain and replace much needed lab and field equipment, and allow us to support our technological needs. Contributions are always greatly appreciated and there are still many things that can be done with your generous remembrances. Please use the “Support DU Geography” link in the menu if you are interested in making a donation.
Recent News From Alumni
Erin Blakemore (BS, 2005) is a staff scientist at Cambria Environmental Technology, an environmental consulting firm. Erin is presently involved in petroleum monitoring and remediation.
Leslie Daigle (BA, 1984) was elected to the Newport Beach, CA City Council in 2006. Leslie was part of the General Plan Update Committee that helped oversee the planning of the city’s first comprehensive revision of the city’s Plan in more than thirty years. The plan presents a vision and framework for enhancing the community’s character as a beautiful, unique residential coastal community with distinct neighborhoods and villages. It preserves its ocean, bay, and estuaries and seeks to improve water quality. Visit Leslie’s website at www.lesliedaigle.com to learn more about what she has been doing.
Mary Coquillette Flanagan (BA, 1973) has been teaching geology, astronomy, and physical science at Rawlins High School in Wyoming for 27 years. She is currently the department chair and is looking forward to retirement after next year. Mary has two daughters, the older is a DU graduate-Public Policy, Political Science 2006 and her younger daughter is a junior in college at Nebraska. Mary reports that she has “fond memories of Terry Toy back in the day. A couple of memorable field trips with Sue Wood, Jay Wood, and the other 1973 grads. Larry Herold was always a favorite, a great teacher and model. Maybe he is the reason I have been in education all of these years.”
Kent Graziano (BA, 1983) recently accepted a position at Hewlett-Packard and re-located to Houston, TX (after 27 years in Colorado) as a Senior Data Architect in the Sales and Marketing Portfolio team in the Global Enterprise Data Warehouse organization. Kent was previously employed at Denver Public Schools as the Manager for Enterprise Data Integration. "This is a great opportunity working on HP's global data warehouse project in order to provide one source of truth for all reporting within HP. Plus we get to move closer to my wife's family."
Susan (Chapparo) Helton (BA, 1987) completed a masters degree in technical communication at CU-Boulder. Susan is now a full time mom, taking care of her two daughters.
Jerry Kuhaida (PhD, 1980) was recently appointed Governance Specialist with the U.S. Department of State Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Ninewa, Iraq. As a PRT member, Jerry will be assisting Iraqi provincial governments with “developing a transparent and sustained capability to govern, promoting increased security and rule of law, promoting political and economic development and providing provincial administration necessary to meet the basic needs of the population.”
Anita Kasch (BS, 2004) is working at the University of Arizona monitoring the impact of the University’s construction of telescopes on endangered subspecies populations of the Red Squirrel. Anita reports that her new job is “adventuresome because there are no roads or trails or buildings for reference. It's all navigation with a handheld compass and GPSed marked and flagged trees. It's exciting; especially in blizzard conditions!”
Mariah Klingsmith (BS, 2005) is finishing her second year in the Peace Corps in the Philippines. Mariah and spouse Jared are planning on returning to the U.S. to begin graduate school next fall.
John McCammon (MS, 2002) recently published an article in Science entitled “Roadless Space of the Conterminous United States.”
Shitij Mehta (MS, 2007) works as a software developer for the Geoprocessing team at ESRI in Redlands, CA.
Erin O’Brien (BA, 2005) is working at Copper Mountain Resort, volunteering with the USFS, and “living the dream.” Erin will probably be returning to school at some point in the future.
Dorothy (Thompson) O’Connell (BA, 1946?) remembers the early years of the department, where there were just two faculty and classes met in the basement of Buchtel Chapel. Dorothy worked for 62 years for Qwest (formerly Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph) where she finished her career as a computer troubleshooter. Now in her 80s, Dorothy lives in the mountain community of Fairplay west of Denver.
Robert Pitts (BA, 1997) received a masters degree in geographic information science from the University of Edinburgh (Scotland) in 2004. He is currently a Project Manager with New Light Technologies Inc. (a minority owned GIS consulting firm) in Washington DC managing enterprise systems implementations for various government, commercial, and non-profit organizations.
Louise Rosenberg (BA, 2006) works as a client management associate at Bradley & Company, LLC, a new private client financial firm in San Francisco.
Andrea Santoro (MS, 2006) is employed as a GIS technician in the City and County of Denver’s Office of Community Development and Planning.
Andrew Shackelford (BA, 1994) is an attorney, practicing immigration law in Phoenix, Arizona. His specialties include business immigration, employer compliance, and GLBT asylum.
Dennis D. Siglinger (MA, 1969) retired after 33 years with the City and County of Denver-City Planning and GIS Department. He currently teaches two GIS courses (Demographic Analysis, Municipal Data Resources) with the department’s GIS Certificate program, and spends much of his leisure time flyfishing, mostly on the Yampa River near Steamboat Springs.
Terry Toy (PhD, 1973; emeritus faculty) is enjoying retirement in Bemis Point, NY. Terry reports that now that the construction of his home is finally completed, he is spending his time visiting family and working his way into Buffalo’s social scene.
John Van Auken (MS, 2005) is still working in Washington, D.C. as a contractor. John reports that “not much has changed since the last newsletter, but at least now there are a few other DU geographers in the area. Heath Hayward and Mike Alonzo are now in town, and then Matt Kascak is right up the road in Philadelphia. We occasionally get together for continuation of our DU studies by holding "reading nights" at some of the local bars....”
Arthur Viterito (PhD, 1980) is a professor of geography at the College of Southern Maryland. Art also is a consultant for the American Association of Community Colleges on the rural community college level.
March 20, 2008