Careers & Alumni
With a strong foundation in chemstry, you’ll be highly prepared for your future.
Our Chemistry B.S. degree is approved by the American Chemical Society and offers an option in Biochemistry. We also offer a flexible B.A. degree designed for students wishing to pursue their secondary teaching credential or for students who want to work in today's high-tech industries.
Our degrees also offer excellent preparation for graduate or professional school. Our students have succeeded at Cornell University, MIT, the University of California at Davis, the University of Oregon, the University of Washington and many other top institutions.
If you're considering a career in the biotech industry, medicine, pharmacy, veterinary medicine or dentistry, Biochemistry is a great choice for undergraduate study to prepare you for professional school. Or, as a teacher, you can share your love of chemistry with tomorrow's scientists and engineers.
In short, nearly all of our students go where they want to go after graduation.
Related Job Titles
The following list is not meant to be all inclusive; many other job alternatives and titles may exist. Some require further education. As a Chemistry major, careers could reach across other concentration areas; refer to those career guides.
Organic Chemist
Inorganic Chemist
Analytical Chemist
Research Chemist
Clinical Chemist
Chemical Analyst
Lab Assistant/Tech
Research Assistant
Junior Chemist
Chemical Engineer
Physical Chemist
Geochemist
Exploration Geophysicist
Biotechnologist
Biochemist
Food Chemist
Histochemist
Pharmacologist
Pharmacist
Pharmacy Technician
Physiologist
Sanitarian
Toxicologist
Medical Technologist
Genetic Engineer
Nutritionist
Environmental Consultant
Fiber Chemist
Forensic Chemist
Criminalist
Agricultural Commodities Inspector
Food & Drug Inspector
Alcohol & Tobacco Inspector
Quality Control Specialist
Patent Researcher
Museum Scientist
Science Librarian
Scientific Journalist
Lecturer /Professor /School Teacher
Meet our Alumni
Class of 2018
Diana Sehawneh
Quality Assurance Assistant / Consultant ,
MaryRuth Organics & WishGarden Herbs
Alumni Updates
Our grads are doing great things.
Albert Ochoa Castillo, 2022
Submitted: April 4, 2024
Albert researched organic and computational chemistry with Dr. Joshua R. Smith as a student at Cal Poly Humboldt. He focused on designing possible organic photovoltaic (OPV) compounds and using computational methods to characterize their electronic properties and assess their estimated...
Lester B Garrison, 1978
Submitted: March 23, 2022
After a most successful career in Clinical Chemistry and developing tests for inborn errors of metabolism in newborn infants, Lester Garrison (Chemistry, '78), has retired. His training in Chemical Oceanography was a good basis for his subsequent work in clinical chemistry. Driven by a passion...
Joni McAtee, MD, 2008
Submitted: January 28, 2022
After HSU, Joni McAtee attended UC Davis school of medicine. McAtee did her residency in Family Medicine in Duluth, MN. McAtee returned to Humboldt County to work in a broad spectrum family medicine with obstetrics. McAtee opened a business in Fortuna, Ikigai Physician Group with a clinic....
Stephen Bowlus, 1970
Submitted: December 24, 2019
After graduation, Stephen Bowlus, Chemistry, 1970, attended University of Illinois (MS '72, PhD '74, postdoc entomology '75), and went into industrial research. He worked primarily in the agricultural chemistry field, starting as a synthesis chemist, then migrating to computational chemistry,...
