Intrigued by the environment at a young age, Sonoma State Director of Field Stations & Nature Preserves Claudia Luke always knew that her place was outdoors. "When I was in 5th grade, I went home and I asked my mom what do you call somebody who studies animals," Luke reminisced. "So at a very young age, I knew I wanted to learn about the natural world."

Coming from a family of educators, Mark Fabionar finds the subject of cultural diversity to be "an interesting and compelling way to serve communities and serve universities," he says.

Bringing with her a passion for community service, Genevieve Sullivan finds her new role as the Community Service Coordinator of Join Us Making Progress (JUMP) to be a perfect fit.

Associate Professor Jeffery Reeder will soon be using his Spanish language expertise in a whole new way. Reeder has been appointed the Chief Reader Designate by the College Board to oversee the scoring of the Spanish Language Advanced Placement (AP) examination.

"I have been involved with the Spanish Language AP program for 18 years, including serving for six years as a member and then as chair of the committee that creates the exam itself," Reeder said. "It's a great honor to be chosen to lead a wonderful group of over a thousand talented and dedicated university faculty and high school teachers."

Merlin Hanauer, assistant professor of economics, has earned the prestigious Cozzarelli Prize for an article that demonstrated how protected regions -- areas that have been closed off to protect the environment -- have affected both poverty and deforestation in Costa Rica and Thailand.

Sonoma State University professor and chair of physics and astronomy Dr. Lynn Cominsky has been selected as the September 2012 Committee on the Status of Women in Physics (CSWP) Woman Physicist of the Month.

Carlos Pena dedicates his time to a community that needs it.

Over the past year Pena has spent his time working with local businesses and charitable organizations to improve Cotati and surrounding communities.

The North Bay Business Journal recently published the following article about SSU's Christopher Dinno who was among the Facilites Managers Recognition Award winners for 2012. Below is the interview he gave the publication.

EXCEL for Youth is a unique academic enrichment program at SSU that offers students entering 4-9th grades accelerated classes in science, math, technology, visual art, drama, and writing. It is celebrating its 30th year and has served over 19,000 students since 1982.

Having suffered through some of the brutal conflicts in Cambodia, Punya Droz of Mendocino has many scars. Yet she works tirelessly to bring a sense of independence to Cambodian youth, especially the blind and deaf.

Growing up in Cambodia, Droz survived a difficult and abusive childhood, and overcame numerous obstacles to reach her goal of completing college.

She joined hundreds of fellow seniors on SSU's main campus last week as a graduate with distinction from the Liberal Studies Ukiah B.A. program. She'll continue her education at Dominican University in pursuit of a teaching credential starting fall of 2012.

A mother herself, Droz currently designs, translates and writes educational materials to ensure that blind and deaf children in Cambodia get the help they need to not only get an education, but to operate independently in their communities.

She works with numerous groups in both the San Francisco Bay Area and in Cambodia in an effort to generate educational materials, guides, and resources for parents and teachers of students with special needs.

Droz recently completed a Special Studies project, for which she traveled to Cambodia. to continue her work with blind and deaf Cambodian children and their parents.

She created a compelling video showcasing her efforts in the Cambodian communities where her work is making a difference in many people's lives.

Sandra Feldman, Liberal Studies Ukiah program coordinator says she rarely sees such an accomplished and distinguished student who contributes tirelessly to help others.

"Punya stands out because she is selfless in contributing effort, time, and scholarship to help those in need, " says Feldman. " She works steadily with a quiet power giving a helping hand, using her gifts to contribute to making the world a better place. In her quest to better prepare and enable teachers and parents to work with blind and deaf Cambodian children, she is the ideal example for our future teachers of California. "

What do The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Harpers and Sonoma State's literary magazine Volt all have in common? All were named a part of the Every Writer's Resource Top 50 Literary Magazines in the country. Sitting at number 37 is Volt, the start-up, independent magazine begun by poet Gillian Conoley that eventually became a nation-wide magazine based out of SSU.

One of the foundational principles of the Masters of Arts in Organization Development program is that of "learning by doing." This program provides professional preparation for developing organizations and communities that are more sane and effective.

In four semesters, participants gain the practical skills, conceptual knowledge, and field-tested experience to successfully lead organization and community improvement efforts.

With that focus, the curriculum includes hundreds of hours of internship time in which students work collaboratively with local businesses in the private, public and non-profit sectors, and thereby gain valuable work experience.

They offer their time for free, or sometimes at greatly reduced fees, in exchange for opportunities to hone their skills and learn through real-life experience. OD alumni, likewise, are continuing to learn in this hands-on manner and to work this way in the community as they build their resumes, professional networks, and skills.

Some examples of organizations with which graduates and students have recently worked are: Community Child Care Council of Sonoma County, Legal Aid of Sonoma County, SSU Faculty Retreat, Sonoma County Office of Education, City of Walnut Creek, City and County of San Francisco, Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Earth Island Institute, Community Action Partnership of Sonoma County, and Women's Initiative for Self Employment.

Collaborative community projects are varied and numerous. For example:

A team of graduates did a project with the Sonoma County Human Rights Commission over the summer of 2011, in which they put together a forum of more than 60 area human rights organizations to discuss ways to collaborate with one another.

A team of alumni worked with local broadcasting station KRCB as they develop their community based programming and partnerships.

One of the alumni is designing and leading a multi-year, multiple stakeholder, community-wide partnership for identifying gaps and priorities in youth-serving organizations in Petaluma, and doing community capacity building in the Petaluma City School System.

OD faculty and alumni were principally involved in the Windsor Future Search collaboration with that community, which focused on creating a better future for the youth of Windsor.

More recently the OD program hosted its own Future Search conference, inviting members of the SSU community and Sonoma County area stakeholders to consider the future of this MA program, and ways to maintain its vital connections with the community.

Alumni hold leadership positions in community and collaboration-oriented organizations such as Catholic Charities, The Arc of California, Ag Innovations Network, Becoming Independent, Summer Search North Bay, and the Santa Rosa Police Department, among many others.

Director of the program is Debora Hammond. More information can be found at http://www.sonoma.edu/exed/orgdev/.

Less than five minutes into talking about compostable eating utensils with Diedre Tubb, the SSU senior jumps up and walks purposefully toward the dining hall. It is closed for business, but that doesn't stop her.

Mario Savio's civil rights work as a university student in the Freedom Summer Project of 1964 in Mississippi led to his involvement as a leader of the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley during 1964-1965. His brilliant rhetoric inspired thousands of students who demanded the administration lift the ban of on-campus political activities and acknowledge the students' right to free speech and academic freedom. Standing on the steps of Sproul Hall, Mario spoke to these students: "There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part...you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus and you've got to make it stop."

Not known to everyone is that Mario Savio was also a beloved teacher of math, philosophy and the humanities at Sonoma State University from 1990-1996. An inspiring teacher, colleague and friend, eloquent spokesperson and courageous activist, Mario empowered others to act upon conscience in order to ensure justice. He was a strong supporter of student rights, immigrant rights, and affirmative action. A man of great integrity, compassion, and a deep respect for his fellow human beings, including those whose positions he opposed, Mario touched the lives of all who knew and worked with him.

Kim Hester Williams is a Professor of English whose scholarly research concerns racial representation in the media, particularly the figure of the "magic negro" in film and in popular culture.

The Anthropology Department's Master's Program in Cultural Resource Management (CRM) graduated its first students in 1982 and will celebrate the 30th anniversary this year with a reunion of graduates, instructors, and friends this spring.

Christina Baker finds great irony in the Oscar nominations this year. Some 70 years after Hattie McDaniel took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress as Gone with the Wind's famous "mammy" the only African American actors being recognized in this year's Academy Awards - Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer - are playing maids in The Help.

Baker, an assistant professor in the American Multi-cultural Studies department, guides students towards the importance of critically analyzing gender and ethnic minority representation in the media. She is particularly interested in how African American women are represented in film and media.

"The critique here is not toward the actresses and filmmakers but with an industry that has allowed such a narrow narrative of African American life to be told," she says. "African American women in the film industry must work within an industry and culture that historically and continuously places African American women in stereotypical roles."

Some would argue that African American women have been properly recognized for their film achievements, including Halle Berry's Academy Award win for Best Actress, the first and only African American woman to have done so.

However, Baker says that roles for women of color are often limited to those that are stereotypical, ranging from the "mammy" and the "welfare mother" to the argumentative "sapphire" and hypersexual "jezebel."

In addition, the most recent actress to win an Academy Award is Mo'Nique, who in 2010 won the best supporting actress Academy Award for her role in the film "Precious." In this film, Mo'Nique plays an abusive welfare mother.

The point of discussing these roles is not to critique Davis, Spencer, or Mo'Nique, says Baker. Each one of these actresses has demonstrated their talent in these and other roles.

"The limited roles for which African American actresses have been recognized is a sign that the American culture and film have not moved beyond the stereotypical categorization of African American women, and have yet to fully recognize the range of talents of African American actresses, and African American women, in general."

Baker notes that African American women have made many significant contributions to American culture, and to the film industry. Actresses such as Angela Basset, Alfre Woodard and Cicely Tyson have given great performances in a variety of roles over the past several decades.

Additionally, Kerry Washington, Sanaa Lathan, and Zoey Saldana are actresses who have also begun to make their mark in the film industry, and have demonstrated their talents in many recent films, she says. African American women, such as Kasi Lemmons and Julie Dash have also made significant contributions to the industry as filmmakers.

In their films, Lemmons and Dash have provided more complex narratives of African American women than have most films, says Baker.

"If the American culture and film industry move beyond the stereotypical categorization of African American women, we would be more open to recognizing the range of talents that are available within this diverse society," she says.

Baker's interest in racial and gender identity and inequality began while studying sociology as an undergrad at UCLA. She decided to pursue the topic as a graduate student at UC Irvine where she examined how those same issues were being presented in the media.

She completed her postdoctoral research fellowship with the Center for Research on Educational Opportunity at University of Notre Dame.

Black Scholars United is a student organization dedicated to serving as a support system academically, socially and for moral well-being for students since 1987.

When the words "college student" and "diet" are mentioned in the same sentence, they usually conjure images of binge drinking, crash calorie cutting, late night Taco Bell runs and horror stories about the "freshman fifteen."

Sherri Anderson, an accounting professor for 31 years at SSU, has lived a life full of serendipity.

Professor Jessica Parker says we are the brink of a profound moment in education as we watch what it means to come of age in a digital world.

Alexandra "Sascha" von Meier, professor of environmental studies and planning at SSU, is on her way to being part of the solution.

Kristel England is a McNair scholar and a welfare mother who is striving to pull herself out of poverty by working toward a college degree.

The first to serve as the Associated Students Diversity Senator is Kim Liaz, who, after growing up in diverse communities, says arriving at SSU felt a bit like "culture shock."

Heidi LaMoreaux has played an active role in promoting environmental education and science awareness in California.

Finding inspiration in the music of Igor Stravinsky, Charles Mingus and Edgard Varese, Brian S. Wilson's eclectic compositional style is a masterful blend of classic and jazz idioms that feels simultaneously familiar and new.

A composer and conductor , Wilson is music department chair at SSU. Currently serving as professor of music theory, he has taught classes in nearly every area of the music curriculum since his first year in 2001, as well as conducted the symphonic wind ensemble (which he founded) and jazz ensembles.

Wilson is a native of Lynn, MA, and a graduate of New England Conservatory, the University of Chicago and the University of Arizona. An enthusiastic champion of music education, he co-founded the Sonoma Brass Institute in 2005 to offer brass education and performance opportunities of the highest quality to the North Bay area.

Wilson is equally at home whether writing for orchestra, chamber ensemble, klezmer band, opera, wind symphony or jazz ensemble. His jazz-inflected harmonies, free borrowings from the Jewish liturgy and exciting rhythmic turns are hallmarks of his distinctive style.

Wilson's breakthrough piece for solo trombone and percussion, The Avanti (the full title is: The Avanti Feels Glued To The Road Even When Cruising at 100 Miles Per Hour!), captured first prize in the International Trombone Association composition competition and has gone on to receive performances worldwide.

Wilson's latest commission is Byron Songs, which will receive its premiere at SSU on Nov. 9. This song cycle is based on settings from Lord Byron's Hebrew Melodies and will be performed by soprano Carol Menke and pianist Marilyn Thompson. Wilson is currently working on a trio for violin, horn and piano, commissioned by Music in the Mishkan at Congregation Sha'ar Zahav in San Francisco.

An inveterate traveller, Wilson served for 20 years as music director of the University of Detroit Classic Theatre study abroad program on the Greek island of Spetses. More recently he has conducted, given clinics and lectured about his music in Taiwan, Colombia (SA), Russia, Italy and Israel.

Among his awards and honors are several New York State Decentralization Grants, the ASCAP Standard Award, College Music Society Pacific Central chapter and National composition awards and the U.S. Department of Education Ensuring Access Through Collaboration And Technology (EnACT) Grant.

Wilson says, "My background is in trombone, piano, music education, composition and conducting and thus I have taught just about every course in the curriculum. Versatility is my curse! I love teaching music theory and conducting groups for special projects. I teach Diatonic Harmony, Chromatic Harmony, Form and Analysis and Private Instruction in Composition. I also have been known to sweep the floors, wash the windows and take out the trash!"

The World Technology Network has named Philosophy Professor John P. Sullins a finalist for an award for his visionary research in the ethical use of robotics.

Thanks to the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholarship, Ramona Indrebo will be able to "give voice to marginalized groups."

A graduate student beginning Business Management studies at Sonoma State this fall, Indrebo is a non-traditional student that the Foundation has recognized as someone who can make a dramatic contribution to society by finding ways to help the elderly.

Natalie Hambalek has been named a recipient of the William Randolph Hearst/CSU Trustees' Award for Outstanding Achievement.