"Biology of the Opossum" undergraduate paper by Yoakum at Humboldt State College, 1953

Series 1, Subseries 1 includes information and materials from Yoakum's undergraduate program at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California, and later his graduate program at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. Yoakum was the first member of his family to attend college. After his service in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Yoakum received the GI Bill which allowed him the opportunity to receive a college education. Materials in this subseries reflect the foundation from which Yoakum built his professional career.

This subseries begins with materials from Yoakum's undergraduate program in Wildlife Management and Range Management at Humboldt State University from 1949-1953. Materials include Yoakum's term papers and assignments from at Humboldt State University, mementos, class schedules, brochures and flyers, grade cards, and some of the administrative paperwork regarding his GI Bill funding. Early on in his college career, Yoakum began collecting journals, newsletters, and other publications on outdoor and wildlife subjects that interested him, some of which are included in this series.

In 1954, Yoakum began a fellowship from the Oregon Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit at Oregon State University. While there, Yoakum began research on the pronghorn population in and around Lakeview, Oregon. Yoakum completed his thesis "Factors Affecting the Mortality of Pronghorn Antelope in Oregon" under Dr. Arthur Einarson and graduated with an M.S. in Wildlife Management in 1957. This subseries contains materials from Yoakum's fellowship including his field notebooks, quarterly reports, some of his class notes and a copy of his thesis; a second copy is also located in Series 3, Subseries 5: Theses and Dissertations.