Class Notes

William Aime BA ’15 visited Lewis & Clark in fall 2019 for a reading and discussion of his postgraduate life and work. His first novel, Holly, was published by Fiction Vortex in June 2019.

Henock Ashenafi BA ’15 has joined the NGO Jhpiego in Baltimore, Maryland, as an SQL programmer. Jhpiego is an international organization that works to improve the lives of women and newborns in more than 40 countries. Ashenafi helps manage the organization’s data warehouse.

Jake Bartman BA ’15 has left his position as a reporter at the Wilsonville Spokesman to focus on applying to graduate programs, pursuing his goal of becoming a professor.

Mackenzie Batali BA ’15, who previously worked as a flavor chemist for a chemical manufacturing company, is now pursuing a PhD at the University of California at Davis. Her research centers around coffee and the analysis of its sensory and chemical effects. In fall 2019, she gave a lecture summarizing her dissertation titled “Sensory and Chemical Explorations Into Drip Brew Coffee Flavor Over Time” at the Specialty Coffee Association’s Expo 2019 lecture series.

Leland Baxter-Neal JD ’15 has taken a position with the ACLU of Oregon. Previously, Baxter-Neal worked at Immigrant Defense Oregon, a project at Metropolitan Public Defender. There, he represented people in deportation proceedings and worked with unaccompanied minors held in a secure detention facility. He also worked to improve access to immigration legal services and with Oregon Ready to help develop and advocate for a universal representation project at the Portland immigration court. In his first week with the ACLU, Baxter-Neal fought the federal government for access to the 123 immigrants and asylum seekers in ICE custody who had just been shipped to the federal prison in Sheridan. The following week, he helped secure a major victory in federal court when the judge found that the federal government was unconstitutionally preventing Baxter-Neal and other pro bono attorneys from entering the prison or communicating with the immigrants detained there. The judge ordered that the lawyers be allowed access. 

Sasha Bishop BA ’15 received the first-place prize at the International Congress of Arachnology for her poster presentation, which focused on a fascinating and under-researched group of spiders known as ochyroceratids.

Ian Blair BA ’15 spent several years in Ukraine as a volunteer with the Peace Corps. He assisted local English educators in the village of Horodkivka, teaching media literacy and helping with projects related to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in Kryvyi Rih. He also directed a summer camp for children with HIV, which resulted in a presentation at the 2018 International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam. Blair contributed to the organization of theatre and film camps in Odesa and spent time working with Afghan refugees. As of September 2019, he has accepted an invitation from the Peace Corps to serve as an English teacher trainer in the Republic of Georgia.

Lily Clarke BA ’15 is traveling the world from Montana to Nepal to study mushrooms. “I want to inspire people to study the obscure,” says Clarke, “we’re finding that the obscure is becoming more and more important.”

Is a senior intergovernmental program analyst in the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. Diaz writes that he would like “to connect with folks who are working on legislation to protect and advance efforts to combat climate change and ensure civil rights for all…we, in California, are continuing to partner with other jurisdictions, especially in light of the shift at the federal level.” He can be reached at samuel.diaz@opr.ca.gov.

Joined Bendixsen Law in Hermiston, Oregon. Foy was previously at the Umatilla County District Attorney’s office.

Sarah A. Garrett JD ’15 has joined the firm of Gress, Clark, Young & Schoepper as an associate attorney in their Beaverton, Oregon, office. Her practice specializes in the defense of Worker’s Compensation claims in the state of Oregon.

Marisol Jenkins BA ’15 lives in Oakland, California, and works on the events and experiences team at Google. In between events, she volunteers with the Junior League and other community organizations. Jenkins loves getting people together and spends her free time hosting dinner parties, tennis games, and hikes with her friends. She is really excited to be a part of the 2015 reunion planning committee and can’t wait to see her classmates at the five-year reunion in June.

David Jenkins BA ’15 lives in Portland, where he is still trying to figure things out. He works as a research assistant at Oregon Health & Science University, but he is not pursuing a career in medicine. Jenkins is taking post-baccalaureate classes at Portland State University and is volunteering at a student-run health clinic that serves houseless individuals. He is still obsessed with the TV show Smallville. Jenkins says he is really excited to connect with the L&C community and can’t wait to see everyone at the five-year reunion.

Was selected to be a Presidential Leadership Scholar, joining the second class of a leadership development initiative that draws on the resources of the presidential centers of Lyndon B. Johnson, George H.W. Bush, William J. Clinton, and George W. Bush. The six-month executive-style program starts at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home, and travels to each participating presidential center so scholars can learn from former presidents, key administration officials, and leading academics. The goals are to study and put into practice varying approaches to leadership, develop a network of peers, and exchange ideas with mentors and others who can help participants make an impact in their communities.

Ponny Kosmas MEd ’15 is a counselor at Woodstock Elementary School in Portland. He’s also the creator of the school’s unique Wellness Center, a friendly, comfortable addition to the administrative space of the school, where students are able to sign up for sessions with a counselor to talk, have a snack, or make some art.

Alex Kraemer BA ’15 is on track to complete his studies at the University of Cambridge, where he is pursuing a two-year graduate program as a Davies-Jackson Scholar. His work deals with Anglo-American interactions in the Pacific, a topic he researched while at Lewis & Clark. After Cambridge, Kraemer plans to return to the United States and pursue a PhD.

Published “Shared Sovereignty: The Role of Expert Agencies in Environmental Law” with Jeffrey Bain Faculty Scholar and Professor of Law Michael Blumm in Ecology Law Quarterly, vol. 42, University of California at Berkeley (2015).

Lucy Lurie BA ’15 is manager of the Stress and Development Lab at Harvard University.

Sullivan MacKintosh BA ’15 works at the Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River, Oregon, as a summer theatre workshop instructor. Last summer, she was awarded the 2017 Judie Hanel Award for outstanding contributions to the theatre arts. The award was presented at the end of a run of Twelfth Night, directed by MacKintosh, which was geared toward younger audiences and starred high school students. MacKintosh has also written and directed an original play for the center, as well as directed plays for the holiday season.

David Marshall EdS ’15 is the new human resources director for Hermiston School District in Oregon. Previously he was assistant superintendent for the Milton-Freewater Unified School District, also in Oregon.

Megan McCaffrey BA ’15 took a position as a full-time teacher at the Sierra Academy for Expeditionary Learning, a public charter high school, in Nevada City, California. She teaches world history; government and economy; and music history. McCaffrey also leads a first-year “crew,” which is a character-building course in which students work with a group to set academic and character goals; foster belonging; and support one another. 

Lisa Muñoz BA ’15, who works as a manager at Dog River Coffee in Hood River, Oregon, was a panelist at the Sense of Place forum. The panelists discussed the Latino community and their experiences in the Columbia Gorge. The event was organized by Lynn Orr, executive director of the Hood River History Museum, and Natalia Fernandez of Oregon State University.

Kayla Nachtsheim BA ’15 spent her second consecutive summer in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Last year, she and Valcourt Honore BA ’17 worked to lay the foundation for a computer literacy program that would be self-sustaining. They succeeded, and this past summer was spent working with Haiti’s first solar company, Enersa, to address the program’s access to electricity.

Loren Naldoza BA ’15 joined the office of U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon to help cover his economic policy portfolio. Naldoza lives in Washington, D.C.

Kenney Polson EdS ’15 is a jazz saxophonist, educator, and composer in the Pacific Northwest. He spoke with Jazz in Europe magazine about how he found jazz, his career, and inspiration for his latest album, For Lovers Only.

Eva Ramey BA ’15 led a student group from the Watershed School of Boulder, Colorado, on a trip to Hawai‘i. While there, the group visited Jack’s Diving Locker, where they learned about manta rays and were guided through a snorkel and scuba lesson by Keller Laros BA ’85.

Eva Ramey BA ’15 is a teacher for the Traveling School, a nonprofit based in Bozeman, Montana, that seeks to empower young women through an experiential overseas high school semester. She spent the fall semester in southern Africa.

Joel Schooler BA ’15 is pursuing a PhD in cognitive psychology at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Last spring, he interned at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), a tech research and development company, where he worked on the Fittle project, a health app.

Philip Thoennes JD ’15 joined the Appellate Division of the Oregon Department of Justice in December of 2018. He represents the state in a variety of appeals in both state and federal appellate courts. His case load includes criminal, postconviction, civil, administrative, and juvenile dependency appeals. Prior to joining the department, Thoennes worked as assistant general counsel at the League of Oregon Cities and as a judicial law clerk for Oregon Supreme Court Judge Rives Kistler.

Joined the League of Oregon Cities as assistant general counsel. Thoennes will advocate in the areas of constitutional and municipal law, and will help develop training and educational materials for elected officials in municipal government. Previously, he clerked for Justice Rives Kistler of the Oregon Supreme Court, where he met his wife, Lauren Eldridge, who was clerking for Justice Jack Landau. Lauren is currently a staff attorney for the Oregon Workers’ Compensation Board.

Melissa Wilk MAT ’15 received a 2016 Fulbright Award. She plans to study the acquisition of second languages in La Rioja, Spain.

Amy Miyako BA ’15 is an actor, writer, artist, and teacher in New York City. She earned an MFA in acting at Columbia University in 2018 and has performed on and off stage, on camera, and internationally. She is also a cofounder of Squeaky Wheelz Productions, which took its premiere work, Someone Dies at the End, to Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival in 2017. In summer 2019, Miyako took part in the Lewis & Clark theatre department’s Exits and Entrances program.

Mason Wordell BA ’15, a member of the a cappella group B-Side Book Club, flew to Los Angeles in mid-July to compete in the semifinals of the 2018 International Championship of A Cappella Open (“The Open”). The group was the sole representative of the Pacific Northwest and faced groups from Colorado, Arizona, and California.

B-Side Book Club is an a cappella group founded in 2015 by Lewis & Clark alumni who participated in a cappella during their undergraduate years. The group has performed for All Classical Portland; collaborated with Third Rail Repertory Theatre; won the Great Figgy Pudding Caroling Competition; placed second in the regional Harmony Sweepstakes; and has performed at multiple festivals and private events around the Pacific Northwest. Members include Kushi Beauchamp BA ’16; Sierra Bertolone-Smith BA ’15; Charlie Best BA ’15; Kimo Camat; Siani Donnellan BA ’15; Andy Erickson BA ’14; Becky Friedman BA ’16; Adriana Hinojosa Hernandez BA ’15; Alison Noe BA ’14, MAT ’17; Robert Pirtle BA ’14; Trevor Sargent BA ’16; Louis Umbarger BA ’15; Sam Wellender BA ’16; and Wordell. For more information, check out www.bsidebookclub.com.