Notes from the Class of 1986

In November 2017, Daniel Blumstein’s (EPOBio) seventh book, Ecotourism’s Promise and Peril: A Biological Evaluation, was published by Springer International Publishing. Dan is a professor and former department chair at UCLA. He spends his summers studying marmots near Crested Butte.

Thirty-two years after receiving his commission from CU’s Army ROTC, Lou Carmona (OrgMgmt) will retire this summer as a colonel in the Army and Army National Guard. He deployed four times during his military career and served as an Army aviator in active flight status. He plans to continue working in aviation. He writes that he is currently the state Army aviation officer for the California Army National Guard and lives in Northern California, where the fires and floods have kept him busy. He and wife Tamyra have five children.

In June, the Los Angeles Press Club awarded Santa Monica resident George Johnston (Jour) first place in the personality profile category for his story “Still Hovering: Ex-Door Gunner’s Vietnam Memories Never Far Away.” Published by the Pacific Citizen, the article follows the life of John Masaki, a Japanese American whose family lived in an internment camp during World WarII and who served in the Vietnam War.

In 1995, Arvada, Colo., resident Keith Villa (MCDBio) created Blue Moon beer. After he retired from MillerCoors in 2018, Keith and his wife Jodi Villa (ArchEngr’86) co-founded Ceria Brewing, which specializes in cannabis-infused, nonalcoholic craft beer.The beer can be foundin 132 dispensaries statewide. 

After graduating from CU, Bill Schoewe (PolSci) received his law degree from the University of Denver. Among other professional experience, Bill ran his own firm for 15 years as a criminal defense lawyer and worked as a senior attorney for the Colorado Public Defenders office for 10 years. He writes, “I would love to hear from my old friends, especially those I worked with in the Peer Counselors Office in the College of Arts and Sciences.” His email is wild4533@aol.com. He lives in Colorado Springs. 

With more than 15 years of experience as a corporate recruiter, Eileen Goode (IntlAf)of Madison, Wisconsin, shifted her business focus to job search consulting. She works with clients to help them search for work and groom their résumés, LinkedIn profiles and interviewing skills. Previously, she was sales director with National Demographics and Lifestyle in Denver. With two partners she also established a technical staffing firm in Boulder. She writes she is “eager to help any CU Buffalo grads that are challenged in their job search.”

Karen Elting Brock (Engl) published Every Thread a Story: Traditional Chinese Artisans of Guizhou Province in April. Karen is the associate publisher of Thrums Books and has edited and helped produce 15 titles, bringing to life the stories of indigenous artisans from across the globe, honoring diverse cultures, history and craft traditions. This is the first book she has written for Thrums. She lives in Loveland, Colorado.

Last year, after over 30 years in sales and marketing, Kim Swilpa (Mtkg) retired to focus on family and travel. After a visit to Sri Lanka she was inspired to start the nonprofit Elebalance, which aims to create a peaceful coexistence between elephants and humans. Elebalance feeds into the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society’s Project Orange Elephant, which helps farmers plant citrus trees to naturally deter elephants from their crops. Find out more at elebalance.org. Kim lives in Montville, New Jersey. 

The Nature of Fear: Survival Lessons from the Wild, Daniel Blumstein’s (EPOBio) most recent book, came out in September 2020. Daniel is a UCLA professor in ecology and evolutionary biology and a member of the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. He spends his summers in Gothic, Colorado, studying yellow-bellied marmots

California bankruptcy attorney Robyn Sokol (Fin) joined Leech Tishman as a partner in the business restructuring and insolvency practice group. Robyn has also served as a judicial law clerk in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California for the Honorable Robin Riblet; and as a judicial law clerk for Judges Ahart, Lax, Lasarow, Marchand Zurzolo.

The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals selected Michael Parker (ArchEngr) as the next bankruptcy judge in the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division. Michael is a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright and has been with the firm since the end of his two-year bankruptcy clerkship in the Western District of Texas with Hon. Ronald B. King in 1995. He was scheduled to take the bench on Nov. 2, 2021.

At the 41st annual CU law alumni awards banquet March 10, Victoria J. Ortega (Span’86; Law’90) will be presented with the distinguished achievement award for public service from Colorado Law. After working in the Denver City attorney’s office as an assistant city attorney, Victoria works as the city’s deputy clerk and recorder at the Denver Clerk and Recorder Office, where she oversees a variety of subjects including finances, human rights, community partnerships and data protection. She lives in Denver.

The 2022 Distinguished Landscape Practitioner Award was awarded to David Theobald (Geog’86; PhD’95) by the North American Chapter of the International Association for Landscape Ecology. David works as a research scientist in Fort Collins at Conservation Planning Technologies, a company he founded in 2013 to address challenges in conservation planning through use of spatial analysis and earth systems data and design. He focuses on land-use trends in the U.S.

Beebe Bahrami (MCDBio’86), an award-winning writer and anthropologist known for her travel narratives, memoirs and guide- books, released The Way of the Wild Goose: Three Pilgrimages Following Geese, Stars and Hunches on the Camino de Santiago in May. In the book, Beebe recounts her experience making the 500-mile pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago across southern France and northern Spain, and her quest to unearth the mystery of the symbol of the goose along the path.

Tim Tomasik (Advert’86) was sworn in as the 149th Chicago Bar Association president. Tim, founding member of Tomasik Kotin Kasserman LLC, has practiced law for nearly three decades. Among his most notable accomplishments is his work as a lead attorney on the plaintiffs’ executive committee in the World Trade Center litigation, securing a $1.2 billion settlement against the airlines for security breaches that led to the 9/11 hijackings and air crashes.

In March, the Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF) celebrated its 19th year in operation. Sisters Kathy Beeck (Engl, PolSci’86) and Robin Beeck (Comm’88) founded the festival in 2004, and since that time, they’ve grown it into one of the country’s most respected film festivals. It attracts more than 20,000 film enthusiasts, media and industry members annually. Named one of the “25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World” by MovieMaker Magazine, BIFF brings films and filmmakers from around the world to Boulder for a four-day annual celebration.