Faculty
Dr. William V. Lombardi – Faculty, English
(530) 283-0202 ext. 227, wlombardi@frc.edu
Education
- Ph.D. University of Nevada, Reno. English, Literature and Environment Emphasis
- M.A. California State University, Chico. English
- B.A. California State University, Chico. English
- A.A. Feather River College. Liberal Studies
Teaching Interests
American Literature, Literature of the U.S. West, Environmental Literature and Humanities, Composition
Will started on the faculty at Feather River College in 2017. He teaches a range of composition, communication, and literature courses, with themes such as “Woke Sports,” “Pioneering Western Families,” and “Apocalypse in the West,” among others. He leads the collective efforts behind the Student Research Symposium each semester, and he participates in Writing Across the Curriculum, First Year Experience, and other student success initiatives. Will serves as the faculty advisor for Eagle Pride-FRC’s Gay-Straight Alliance, and is a member of FRC’s Sustainability Action Team. Before returning to school, Will worked as a wildland firefighter on the Plumas Hotshots, and as a carpenter in the Feather River region. He now serves on the boards for Plumas Arts and Friends of Plumas Wilderness, and is a member of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment and the Western Literature Association. Will is delighted to be living and working in the wild landscapes, and with the people of, the Feather River Watershed.
Dr. Nikki Grose – Faculty, English
(530) 283-0202 ext. 252, ngrose@frc.edu
Education
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- Ph.D. Educational Leadership (May 2020), University of Nevada, Reno
Dissertation: Predictors of Successful Completion of the International Baccalaureate Diploma - M.A. in English (May 2012), University of Nevada, Reno
Thesis: Meth Lives - B.A. in English and Political Science (December 2009), University of Nevada, Reno
Thesis: Survivors: A Creative Exploration into the Themes of Love, Loss, and Loneliness
In Cursu Honorum Cum Laude
Teaching Interests
Nikki has been teaching at FRC since 2020, first as an associate faculty member and then as a full-time faculty member in 2021. She teaches creative writing, college composition, critical thinking, and literature classes. Her areas of interest include creative writing, gender issues, and multi-cultural literature. Nikki also teaches courses in FRC’s Sociology program.
On campus, Nikki works with students to foster a love of writing. Her efforts include starting Cambium, FRC’s arts and humanities journal, in 2022 and advising The River Writers, a club dedicated to writing and reading.
When she’s not on campus, Nikki can be found spending time with her husband and five children. She is the CubMaster for the Quincy Cubscout Pack 151, a soccer coach, and an avid writer and reader.
Dr. Gina Warren – Faculty, English
(530) 283-0202 ext. 225, gwarren@frc.edu
Education
- Ph.D. English (2020), University of Louisiana at Lafayette
- M.F.A. in Creative Writing (2014), Northwest Institute of Literary Arts
- B.A. in Creative Writing and Philosophy (2012), Pacific University
Teaching Interests
Gina began teaching at Feather River College in 2023. She teaches composition and communication courses, and her interests include creative writing, feminist theory, animal studies, and food politics. She is particularly interested in the ways these subjects intersect and how creative writing can investigate issues of gender, race, and class in food systems. Her book, Hatched: Dispatches from the Backyard Chicken Movement (University of Washington Press), pursues some of these themes. Before coming to Feather River College, she taught at different state and private colleges and universities in the Southern and Southeastern United States.
When she isn’t teaching, Gina enjoys reading, writing, hiking with her dogs, and rock climbing. She is an avid backpacker and loves spending time in wild and isolated places like deserts and mountains. Gina is thrilled to be a part of the Feather River community.
Joe Willis – Associate Faculty, English
(530) 283-0202 ext. 343, jwillis@frc.edu
Education
- M. I. T. – physics, math, swimming
- Tulane University – zoology, math, badminton, supplemented by wide-ranging electives in the humanities. B. S. in Zoology
- University of Florida, Chapman University, UC Davis, and Fresno Pacific University – wide-ranging studies in biology, anthropology, English, social studies, and educational pedagogy
Teaching Interests
Interdisciplinary studies with emphasis on exploring where the sciences and the humanities have similar or different approaches for seeking truth, critical thinking (but I repeat myself), pedagogy as relates to defending older approaches that work and approaching new ways with a healthy skepticism.
Ever since early childhood, I have been exploring forbidden zones in garages and back yards to figure out how things work. Targets of my inquiries ranged from mechanical things like power tools, toasters and radios to back yard insects and flowers, especially insect-flower codependency. This habit led eventually to discovering literature that brought a science perspective to themes in poetry, fiction, and the essay. Writers such as Steinbeck, Thoreau, Twain, and Shakespeare were studied superficially in high school, then in more depth at several colleges. Strange as it may seem, I was first led to deeper appreciation of such writers through conversations in bars with my biology professors. I suppose the seeds were being sown all along for a career that would shift slowly but steadily from teaching science and math in conventional ways, to curriculum writing with interdisciplinary approaches that sometimes got me into trouble, to my current love which is living in the Sierra (which is a singular noun, by the way) and teaching writing and literature classes at Feather River College
Dr. Chris Connell – Faculty, English
(530) 283-0202 x225, cconnell@frc.edu
Education
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- Ph.D. in English and Literature University of Iowa
- M.A. in English and Comparative Literature Columbia University
- B.A. in English Literature, University of California, Santa Cruz
- B.A. in Western Civilization, University of California, Santa Cruz
Teaching Interests
Chris Connell came to Feather River College in 1996. He teaches a wide variety of English classes, though his specialty teaching areas are critical thinking, British Literature, modern literature, Shakespeare, creative writing, and the novel. He has a special interest in literary theory and the way in which cultural experience is represented in literature, film, and other media. He also teaches business communications and research methods in the Agriculture Bachelor’s program. Chris helped establish the First Year Experience program, founded and coordinates the Book in Common at FRC, and chairs the English department. He enjoys advising and mentoring students and helping students plan for transfer. In the community, Dr. Connell has been involved with the local music scene, the Plumas arts Commission, and managed the local community supported FM radio station. Chris is an avid traveler and has lived overseas as well as in New York City and the rural Midwest. Though Quincy is the smallest town he has lived in, he is a lover of the wilderness and trails of Plumas county. In other areas of interest, Dr. Connell is an accomplished beekeeper, an enthusiastic hiker, and a recreational sailor on the local lakes.
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