Portland State Magazine Winter 2010

ALUMNI PROFILE CHAD HONL MED '07 The fruits of his labor For Chad Honl MEd '07 there may never be enough trees in Portland. A longtime Portland native, Honl received the Bill Naito Community Trees Award this past October after he and his class of seventh-graders from Vestal Elementary transformed 15,000 square feet of asphalt at the school into a grass playing field bordered by 20 trees and more than 500 shrubs. A certified arborist, Honl has always had a passion for bringing trees to urban areas. While spending time in Bolivia, he was inspired by the abundance of public fruit trees in poorer neighborhoods. The idea stuck in his head and upon return he founded the Portland Fruit Tree Giveaway-an annual event held in Portland that partners with tree nurseries around the city to distribute free fruit trees to needy com– munities. "My goal was to create a fruitful city," says Honl. Now in its 12th year, the Fruit Tree Giveaway has planted over 25,000 fruit and native trees in Portland neighborhoods. For Honl, mixing his arborist skills with the class– room was a clear path. "I've always known I wanted to be a teacher," he says, adding in reference to the middle schoolers, "I just love the energy. They want to learn, want to be hands on." HonI sees middle school as a time when students can start to see community needs and take on projects that make a difference. Looking back, Honl points out that the real suc– cess at Vestal Elementary was not just a field of new grass and growing trees, but the fact that the students "were involved in the entire process, from grant writing to then going out and planting the trees. It was a dream for them as much as a dream for me. That's the biggest thing I want to leave with them-that they can dream it and then create it." BY TYLER BRAIN 26 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE WINTER 2010 Scott Thompson MBA '98 is a partner at Com- mon Sense Investment Management in Portland. Brian Eagleheart '99 is a private mortgage banking branch manager for Wells Fargo in Portland. Eagleheart's favorite memories of PSU are gathering in the Park Blocks during che spring term for debates and participating in the Native American Cultural Awareness Week. His father, Hulett McDowell '92, and brother, Tyson McDowell '05, attended Portland Scace. Ellen Franklin MA '99, MA '05 is an adjunct faculty member in the English depart– ment at Washington Scace University, Vancouver campus. Vivian Weber MA '99 has owned a vineyard in Dundee since 1975. 2000-2009 Heike Mayer MUS '00, PhD '03 is a professor in economic geography at University of Bern in Switzerland. Mayer hopes co return to PSU for research and collaboration with faculty in the Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning. Zaur Akhriev '01 Zaur Akhriev '01 is an invest– ment analyst with The Standard in Portland. Akhriev grew up in Nalchik, Russia, and first came co Portland as an exchange student living with Kendal McDonald MA '02 and her husband, Dan McDonald MBA '91, before and while attending PSU. Akhriev recently became a U.S. citizen. Corie Hammers '01 Corie Hammers MS '01 was named an assistant profes- sor at Macalester College, Sc. Paul, Minnesota, in December. She teaches in the college's Women's, Gender, and Sexual– ity Studies Department. Terri Silvis PhD '01 is the director of housing for Catholic Charities' Caritas Housing in Portland. Alex Coffee '02 is director of business and legal affairs at Bold Films in Hollywood. Antonio Dauria '02 is a flight attendant with Delta Airlines, based in New York City. Dauria brings food, clothing, and other essentials on a weekly basis co 150 orphaned children in a gov– ernment-run home in Ghana. Robert Lee '03, MPA '08 is health policy and govern– ment affairs analyst with Care Medical and Rehabilitation Equipment, Inc., in Portland. Lee's favorite professor at PSU was Theresa Kaimanu, who, he writes, "has proven co be dedicated to the lifetime suc– cess of her students. She is the very definition of a mentor." Casey Quinlan Hein '03, PhD '08 is a postdoctoral research fellow at Buck institute for Age Research in Novato, California. Her husband, Mat– thew Hein '01, MA '04, ■ = PSUAA Lifetime Member