Local gets governor’s nod

Gov. Jerry Brown has reappointed Chico’s John Lane to the State Mining and Geology Board, where he has served since 2009. Lane, 48, has owned and operated Chico Environmental Science and Planning LLP in downtown Chico since 2002.

He’s worked with the Butte County District Attorney’s Office on a number of environmental investigations and has led research expeditions of Chico State students to remote areas of the world, including Papua New Guinea and Borneo, where they’ve identified rare or even previously unknown insects, snakes and frogs.

Lane (pictured) earned a master’s degree in geoscience from Chico State in 2000. Brown’s press release noted that Lane is a Democrat.