Department of Applied Environmental Science
Department Highlights | December 10, 2021 | Issue 5
About the Highlights
The Department of Applied Environmental Science (AES) is home to 3 degree programs: Environmental Studies B.A. (ENSTU), Environmental Science, Technology and Policy B.S. (ESTP), and Environmental Science M.S. (ENSCI). In an effort to stay connected in a virtual world, we hope to utilize this bi-semester highlights email to keep all AES students, staff, and faculty informed of current AES highlights, news, & events. If you need to get in touch with the AES office, please feel free to email us at aes_office@csumb.edu.
Faculty Highlight
Laura Lee Lienk, Lecturer

Laura Lee Lienk has dedicated the past 26 years of her career to educating CSUMB science students, local elementary and high school students, as well as the community at large.

After retiring from her position as Service Learning Coordinator, Laura Lee remains committed to the students, staff, and faculty at CSUMB. Moving forward, she will serve as an Adjunct Research Faculty member in the College of Science and a part-time lecturer for the Environmental Studies degree program (in Spring 2022). The Department of Applied Environmental Science is incredibly grateful for Laura Lee Lienk's dedication to students, her peers, and the surrounding community. Her time at CSUMB will leave an unmatched impact that extends beyond the campus boundaries. To learn more about her career, check out her interview at the button below.
Campus Resource
CSUMB Library

The CSUMB Library offers all members of the CSUMB community the opportunity, support, and tools to engage meaningfully with a wide variety of information resources relevant to their academic, intellectual, and creative endeavors.

Below are resources that may be helpful for the end of the semester:
Undergraduate Student Highlight
Ethan Quaranta, ENSTU

Ethan Quaranta, a senior Environmental Studies (ENSTU) student, has spent his time at CSUMB exploring his interests in politics and environmental policy. Over the past two years, Ethan has rallied together a student-led movement calling on the CSU system to divest from fossil fuels.

In October, the movement was able to celebrate a monumental victory - the California State University system pledged to purge their investment in fossil fuels. At the campus level, CSUMB has began the process of divesting from fossil fuels as well. 
Graduate Student Highlight
Michelle Tarian, ENSCI

Michelle Tarian, a graduate student in the Environmental Science master's program, is currently immersed in a professional internship with California State Parks. As an Environmental Services Intern, Michelle is surveying all of the Sea Cliff Buckwheat (Eriogonum parvifolium) in Garrapata State Park, including habitat threats and life states. Because E. parvifolium is the host plant for the endangered Smith's Blue Butterfly, California State Parks has to monitor and make restoration plans for its habitat. Following graduation, Michelle is looking forward to pursuing a career in ecosystem management.
Alumni Highlight
Shawn Wagoner,
ESSP / BIO

Shawn Wagoner, a Biology alumnus with ties to the former Earth Systems Science Policy (ESSP) program at CSUMB, has been engaged in his professional career since graduating in 2010. Shawn currently serves as the Wildlife Biologist and a Project Manager for Burleson Consulting Inc.; where he works alongside many other CSUMB alumni from ESTP (BA) and ENSCI (MS). He specializes in procuring and leading environmental compliance projects that require reconnaissance and protocol-level biological resource surveys, environmental permitting, habitat assessments and biological compliance monitoring throughout Northern and Central California. Shawn is now the President-elect of the California Central Coast Chapter of The Wildlife Society and also a Vice President of the Monterey Audubon Society.
Message from the Department Chair
Dear AES Students,

We have reached the final stretch of the Fall semester! THANK YOU for your hard work, dedication, and perseverance over the last several months. As President Ochoa has communicated, most of our Spring 2022 classes at CSUMB will be held in-person, and I hope to see you back in the Chapman Science Building in the coming months.

Please join us for the AES Capstone Festival next Friday, Dec 17 from 2-5pm. The Capstone Festival is a time to celebrate our students and learn about the culminating projects undertaken by both undergraduate and graduate students. Capstones are an important feature of our curriculum where all students engage in a culminating, project-based learning experience with community partners and organizations. Capstone Festivals bring the entire department together to celebrate our student accomplishments. I hope you will attend on the 17th – either in-person (Library room 1188) or over Zoom. Light refreshments will be served outside 1188 in the Library courtyard from 1:30 – 2:00pm before the festival starts.

Good luck finishing up classes, and I wish you all a happy, healthy, and safe winter break!

My best wishes,

Susan Alexander
Professor and Chair, Department of Applied Environmental Science
Department Updates
AES Fall 2021 Capstone Festival
Join us to celebrate the hard work of AES students!
The Department of Applied Environmental Science Fall 2021 Capstone Festival will be taking place on Friday, December 17th from 2:00 - 5:00 pm. The festival will be held in Tanimura & Antle Family Memorial Library, Rm 1188 and over Zoom (for virtual attendees). For a full list of presentations and participants, check out the AES Capstone web page.
Check out a new publication from
AES Students & Alumni!
Influence of a Post-dam Sediment Pulse and Post-fire Debris Flows on Steelhead Spawning Gravel in the Carmel River, California by Douglas P. Smith, Jamie Schnieders, Lauren Marshall, Katherine Melchor, Skylar Wolfe, Devon Campbell, Alyssa French, Joseph Randolph, Mattole Whitaker, Joseph Klein, Cory Steinmetz and Ruby Kwan.
Interested in having your story highlighted in our next AES highlight email? Complete one of the following forms for a chance to be featured on our website & in our upcoming email(s).
Department of Applied Environmental Science | https://csumb.edu/aes