Class Notes

After Christopher Lane (Law’08) practiced at a Boulder-based law firm as well as at a larger regional firm, he joined the real estate group Davis Graham & Stubbs in Denver as an associate attorney in February. His practice focuses on all areas of real estate transactions. He lives in Boulder.

Adventurer Shawna McKeown (Span’08) writes for the outdoors and sports section of 303Magazine. She enjoys getting lost in the woods and checking out Denver events and eateries. She lives in Westminster, Colo.

On July 6 Lieschen Gargano (IntlAf’08) married Aaron Quilling (Engl’08) at Snow Mountain Ranch in Granby, Colo. Lieschen is a University of Denver Korbel School of International Studies master’s student in peace and conflict resolution and works for CDR Associates. Aaron is a chef at Oak at Fourteenth in Boulder. The couple will celebrate with a trip to Southeast Asia this winter.

In November Joshua Malm (Fin’08, MAcct’08) will marry Kelly Tinney in Denver. Before attending CU, Joshua graduated from Centaurus High School in Lafayette, Colo. Kelly and Joshua are both assurance managers with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Joshua lives in Boulder.

Houston resident Laura Pommer (Geol’08) married Luke Fiddler in July in Lyons, Colo. Laura graduated from Boulder High School, attended CU and then earned a master’s degree from the University of Texas, Austin. She is a geologist.

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck announced that Kyle Blackmer (Mgmt’08, Law’11) joined its real estate group as an associate. Kyle’s focus is on commercial real estate transactions with an emphasis on acquisitions and dispositions. Previously Kyle served as a judicial clerk for the honorable Judge Lewis T. Babcock of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. At law school, he was editor-in-chief of the University of Colorado Law Review. Kyle lives in Greeley, Colo.

Right as Rain by Heather Kailey Cleveland (Thtr, Jour’08) ranked No. 11 out of 14,633 novels in the romantic suspense genre on Amazon. Heather is on the list among legendary authors Nicholas Sparks, Maya Banks, and Janet Evanovich. “I am so honored to be on a list in the company of some of my literary heroes,” she says. Heather lives in Denver.

Boulder’s Frasca restaurant announced its newest staff member, sommelier Carlin Karr (Comm ex’08). Carlin worked in San Francisco where she was the opening general manager and wine director at Sons and Daughters with no prior restaurant experience. Within 18 months of opening, Sons and Daughters received a Michelin Star. In 2011 Forbes Magazine recognized Carlin in a feature representing the food and beverage industry’s best under the age of 30.

In January nine CU alumni set sail on a 106 day, 25,000-mile journey around the globe with 27 of the world’s most innovative technology entrepreneurs. The nautical journey is part of Unreasonable@Sea, founded by Daniel Epstein (Phil’08) of Boulder. Unreasonable@Sea is an experiment in transnational entrepreneurship and in leveraging startups as a tool for international economic development. Joining Daniel to document the experience were Evan Swinehart (Film’08) of Boulder; Mark Crawford (Film’08) of Broomfield, Colo.; Shawna Riley Schultz(Film’09) of Loveland, Colo.; Jessie Marek (Film, Phil’09) of Fort Morgan, Colo.; Patrick Behan (Film, Hist’09) of Southland, Texas; Matt Schultz(Film’09) of Loveland, Colo.; Matt Corliss (Engl’08, MJour’10) of Lafayette, Colo., and Larissa Rhodes (Film, Span’10) of Boulder. The documentary will capture the 11 tech-centered companies represented by the entrepreneurs to better understand how to bridge new markets and build globally relevant technologies and companies in a rapidly connected world.

Harvey Park Improvement Association president Julia Bourlakov (MFin’08) appeared in The Denver Post in September for her efforts toward building a sense of community in the Harvey Park neighborhood in Denver. Harvey Park is a diverse area with affordable 1950s houses. Julia lives in the neighborhood with her husband and two children.

After serving two years as an office management specialist at the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru, Jessica Mosnik (Ling’08) is working at her second post in Beijing, China. In Peru she served on the Interagency Housing Board, Ambassador’s Technology Working Group and the SharePoint Strategy Team. Jessica is a lifetime member of Girl Scouts of the USA and helped the Girl Scouts of Colorado provide training on a new program model to hundreds of adult volunteers statewide.

Tocci Building Companies announced Kirsten Soderlund (EnvDes’08) joined the firm as a modeler in the virtual design and construction department. Tocci is a Boston-area construction manager and recognized leader in virtual design and construction solutions. Previously Kirsten was a lighting and energy efficiency designer for Cleantech Solutions in Boulder. Since joining Tocci she has gained facility management experience through her work on such projects as the Rodina Federal Building in Newark, N.J.

Reading Village hired Kassia Binkowski (IntPhys’08) as director of communications and development. Reading Village works with residents of impoverished villages in rural Guatemala to develop a culture of reading. Kassia lives in Boulder.

Filmmaker Ross Finkel (Film’08) began a documentary project in his senior year at CU-Boulder, spending close to a year and a half in the developmental stage preparing to film the movie in the Dominican Republic. After four years, the film Ballplayer: Pelotero is being released in theaters as well as on Video On Demand and iTunes. The documentary looks inside the world of professional baseball training camps in the Dominican Republic. Ross lives in Boulder.

Former CU student athlete and transgendered filmmaker Lauren Lubin (Soc’08) is making a documentary titled Gender Blender. The film is about nonbinary gender identities, and it follows Lauren as she undergoes surgery to transform her female body to become gender neutral. “This is so much about sharing our pride in ourselves and who we are,” she told the Daily Camera. Lauren resides in Northbrook, Ill., and writes she is happy the Alumni Association’s GLBTA chapter exists.

A founder of the Unreasonable Institute, Daniel Epstein (Phil’08) announced in spring a new program called Unreasonable at Sea. The program is for technology entrepreneurs who desire to take their ventures into new international markets. It is made up of teams that use technology to solve social and environmental challenges of this century, all while traveling on a ship to more than 14 countries in 100 days. Daniel lives in Boulder.

In May 2011 Christina Bojanowski (Comm’08) moved to Los Angeles and has worked on multiple national commercials for the Tennis Channel, worked for TV shows broadcast on Bravo, TLC and the Food Network and served as an editor. Christina is a production coordinator for Food Network’s Cupcake Wars. She writes, “I am humbled and blessed to be where I am thus far in my journey here in Hollywood.”

On June 30 Jessica Amend (Psych’08) and Grant McGilvray (Jour’08) will marry. Jessica continued her education at the University of Denver with a degree in international disaster psychology and Grant works as a broadcast engineer at ROOT Sports in Denver.

On Sept. 15 Carly Stenseth (Soc’08) and Erik Rothschild (Econ, Fin’08) will marry. Carly is a teacher at Golden Gate Guppies in San Francisco and Erik is a trading associate at hedge fund Peak6 Advisors.

President Obama named Sasha Reed (PhDEPOBio’08) one of 94 recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. Sasha is a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and lives in Moab, Utah.