Class Notes

Kris DeBruine, B.S., visual communications and '11, M.Ed., educational leadership recently retired after 22 years in public education, most recently at Burlington-Edison High School where she taught computer science. Kris also served for 14 years as a Chi Alpha campus pastor, some of those years with Campus Christian Fellowship at Western.

Julia Tatum, B.S., environmental science - freshwater ecology and '21, M.S., environmental science, is working toward her Ph.D. studying forest ecology at Northern Arizona University. 

Leanna Bridge Rezvani, B.A., French, is a lecturer in French in the Global Languages Department at MIT. The University of Delaware Press just published her monograph, "Hagiography in Marguerite de Navarre's Heptaméron: Saints and Debates in Renaissance France." 

Paola Merrill, B.A., English - literature, and her husband recently purchased Trail's End, a treasured community bookstore in Winthrop. Paola is an artist and videographer whose YouTube content, "The Cottage Fairy," went viral during COVID.

After a career working in ocean conservation and public policy at the national level, Deborah Atwood, B.S., marine biology, recently wrote a children's book, "The Secret Life of Lulu: The Enchanting Kelp Mermaid," to share her love of the ocean with young readers. 

Darby McDevitt, B.A., English - writing, has a new "gripping, twisty mystery" set in Seattle, "Halter," a near-future sci-fi novel published by Diversion Books. 

Carol V. Davis, B.A. Fairhaven interdisciplinary studies, has a new book of poetry, "Hovering." Davis was twice a senior Fulbright bright scholar in Russia and is the author of four books of poetry plus one bilingual book and several shorter books, including this new one.

Adolfo Capestany, B.A., speech communication and '90, M.A., communications, retired Nov. 1, 2025, after 42.5 years in public affairs and media relations roles for the state of Washington. Most recently he spent the past 12 years as the senior director of Communications and Government Affairs for the Department of Social and Health Services, the state’s largest agency. During his time at WWU in the early '80s he was a graduate teaching assistant in the Communications Department and also served as the public address announcer for Vikings men’s and women’s basketball in Carver Gym. He also recently married Maria Rogers on October 18, 2025.

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 Maine 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.