Class Notes

Loretta Richardson, the widow of Keith Scheid, B.A., English, is paying tribute to her late husband with a road trip to promote and share his adventure book for young readers, "East with the Dragon." Watch for her on the road in her "dragoned-out SUV," covered with artwork from Keith's book. 

Jesse Nichols, B.A., visual journalism, a multimedia journalist for Grist, recently received the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Award for Excellence in Science Communications from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Jesse was honored in the category of early career science journalism and specializes in science and the environment. 

Vivian Edwards, B.A., English literature, became the branch manager of the Chelan and Manson public library branches in Chelan County. 

Taylor Nichols, B.A., journalism, earned her master's degree in data journalism from the University of Maryland earlier this year and received a Roy W. Howard Fellowship from the Scripps Howard Foundation to cover housing with the Main Monitor. 

Steve Guntli, B.A., visual journalism, lives in Austin, Texas, where he edits the Cedar Park-Far Northwest Austin and Leander-Liberty Hill editions of the Community Impact newspaper. 

Thomas Hunter, B.A., environmental policy, was recently appointed the city manager of Liberty Hill, Texas. 

Marlén Marquez, B.A., sociology, is the Organizational and Community Engagement coordinator for the Latino Advocacy and Leadership Association of Whatcom. 

John MacBeath Watkins, B.A., journalism, political science and '83, M.A., political science, is the co-owner of Twice Sold Tales, a secondhand bookstore in Ballard, where he occasionally sells copies of his self-published 2018 book, "The Outlaw John Locke and Why Liberalism Is Worth Fighting For," which he most recently updated in 2025. 

Lindsey Myhre (B.A., business administration – finance) became president and chief executive officer of Spokane Teachers Credit Union.

Evan Schatz, B.A., political science, is a lead staff member for U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, most recently serving as the Democratic staff director for the Senate Appropriations Committee, where Murray is the top-ranking Democrat. 

Joel Pfundt, B.A., urban and regional planning, was appointed director of the Bellingham Public Works Department 

Aaron England, B.A., finance, became the chief product and technology officer with Accruent. 

Greg Connor, B.A., political science, recently joined the American Feed Industry Association as the senior manager of Multilateral Affairs and Market Access. Previously, Greg worked as an international program specialist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

Raelayn Kaplan, B.A., Fairhaven Interdisciplinary Concentration, is managing director at Joyco Digital and was included in Whatcom Talk's 2025 Top 7 Under 40 list.  

Tim Barron, B.S., kinesiology - movement studies, is a doctor of chiropractic who recently returned to Whatcom County to open North Sound Spine & Sports Therapy in Ferndale.  

Whitney Osiensky, M.A., anthropology, is Whatcom County's first full-time archeologist, ensuring cultural resources are protected during construction and maintenance of public works projects.  

Terry Veltkamp, B.S., technology education and '90, M.Ed., technology, was inducted into the White River Athletic Hall of Fame for his work as head football coach at White River High School and winning five league titles. 

Jonathan Zehr, B.S., biology, is a distinguished professor emeritus in the Department of Ocean Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He led a team that received the American Association for the Advancement of Science's oldest award, the Newcomb Cleveland Prize, for work published in the journal Science on the groundbreaking discovery of an organelle within a single-celled algae that converts nitrogen gas into ammonia and helps the algae survive in nutrient-poor ocean regions. Their research was funded in part by the Simons Foundation, for which Jonathan is a principal investigator. 

The Redmond High School Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Cami Gates, B.Mus., music education, came in second at the American String Teachers Association National Orchestra Festival in Atlanta in March. The students memorized 35 minutes of classical music and performed unconducted. 

Willie Schnitzer, B.A., Fairhaven interdisciplinary concentration, recently retired after several decades in the real estate appraisal profession in the San Francisco Bay Area, including work in the reconstruction of freeways in the East Bay following the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. He's also a volunteer for Oakland's First "T," an organization that assists disadvantaged middle school students.