Dr. Burnham teaches in the basic science department at UWS. She earned her PhD in molecular microbiology in 1998 and completed a post doctoral fellowship at the Ohio State University in 2002. She joined the faculty of UWS in 2005. Dr. Burnham teaches immunology, microbiology and public health. When not at UWS Dr. Burnham can be found hanging out with her partner Erin and their two children, Addie and Zach.

Kathleen Cannon is the director of human resources. Kathleen joined UWS in 2013 coming from a start up into the academic world. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration…

Dr. Leeja Carter believes sport and exercise are not only personally enriching, but can transform families and communities. Her work addresses gendered racism in sport, historical and contemporary representations of Black women's "strength," and culturally responsive health and sport psychology approaches for women of color. Dr. Carter has presented nationally and internationally as well as published peer-reviewed publications, book chapters and popular articles on topics related to feminist sport psychology, black feminist politics, social justice, feminist leadership, gendered racism in sport, inclusion and diversity. In 2019 she published Feminist Applied Sport Psychology: From Theory to Practice, an edited text addressing intersectional feminist, womanist and black feminist praxis in sport psychology. In 2018 she was awarded the Fulbright Specialist Scholar award and served as a Visiting Scholar at London South Bank University (LSBU) on the “This Girl Can” project, where she consulted on the center’s work addressing cross-cultural barriers to exercise engagement amongst racial and ethnic girls residing in the region. A Fulbright Scholar, feminist changemaker, and expert on inclusive and equity-focused practice in sport and health, Dr. Carter's work has been featured on CNN’s Connect the World, Black News Channel, NPR, Salon.com, Self Magazine, Livestrong, Bustle, Women's Health, Pride Magazine, Beauty INC and Psychology Today. Dr. Carter is also founder and executive director at the Coalition for Food and Health Equity, and the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP)'s first Diversity and Inclusion Executive Board division head. She received a bachelor's and master's degree in psychology from Fairleigh Dickinson University, a post-master's certification in exercise science from California University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD in kinesiology with a concentration in the psychology of human movement from Temple University.

Dr. Sarah Castillo completed her bachelor’s degree in psychology at UCLA, her master’s degree in kinesiology at Cal State Long Beach and her PhD in education at the University of Idaho. Her graduate research projects built on one another, with her master’s thesis focusing on the impact of coach and athlete compatibility on levels of team cohesion, and her dissertation centered on the creation of a two-year intervention program with a newly formed NCAA Division I women’s soccer team. She is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) and approved CMPC mentor through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP). She currently serves on the AASP executive board as the professional standards division head, overseeing activities related to certification, ethics and continuing education. Dr. Castillo comes to UWS from National University in San Diego, Calif., where she served as the program director for the bachelor’s in sport psychology program, acted as editor-in-chief for the online Journal of Performance Psychology and was co-director of the Center for Performance Psychology. Prior to her tenure at National University, she spent nine years as a performance enhancement instructor at the United States Military Academy, West Point. During her time with the Army, Dr. Castillo worked extensively with more than 15 intercollegiate, intramural and club athletic teams. Dr. Castillo’s passion is working with individuals and teams in their search for peak performance in any area of life. She currently works with various collegiate teams and individual athletes in the San Diego area, as well as the USOPC Paralympic track and field team. One of Dr. Castillo’s main areas of interest is the implementation of interventions designed to allow performers to reach their potential through the application of mental skills and mindfulness training. Her goal is to collaborate with performers to help them become fully engaged in competition despite adverse thoughts, emotions and playing conditions.

Erin Cochran, MEd began with University of Western States in June 2017 with a background in working in collegiate athletics at the University of Minnesota and University of Oregon. She earned her BA in Mass Communications: Public Relations from Winona State University in Winona, Minn., in 2013 before earning her MEd in Applied Kinesiology emphasis in Sport Management in 2015 from the University of Minnesota. As content strategist for UWS, Cochran serves as the ASB liaison, is responsible for multimedia strategy, internal and external communications content, photography, copy editing and media relations efforts. Erin is currently working towards her EdD within the UWS clinical mental health counseling program specialization in sport and performance.

Chantelle grew up in the Rogue Valley in Southern Oregon. She completed her BA in International Development at Portland State University and MA in Student Affairs Administration at Lewis and…

Dr. Matthew Condie is an Australian-trained and based clinical psychologist and adjunct faculty member for the department of sport and performance psychology at University of Western States. He is a certified mental performance consultant with the Association of Applied Sport Psychology, has a doctorate education in sport and performance psychology, and is currently studying a Master of Educational Neuroscience. Matt has held several key roles in clinical psychology and leadership, including child protection, youth, and adult mental health, forensic drug and alcohol, emergency psychiatric services, perinatal and infant mental health, and refugee mental health both in Australia and abroad. He currently is a full-time faculty member teaching into the Master of Clinical Psychology program at Central Queensland University. Matt works with athletes from community level to Olympic level. He sees his mission to explore and challenge the status quo regarding human performance, functioning, and coping through the lens of reflective practice, innovation, positive psychology, achievement and motivation, mindfulness, and a commitment to lifelong learning. Together with his clinical knowledge and experiences, Matt's passion is to promote the integration of well-being and mental wellness theoretical and applied principles to support athletes and performers to be self-aware, balanced, resilient, well-rounded and consistently high performers. With any individual he works with, Matt balances autonomy with accountability, with a focus on respecting the relationship, education, skill acquisition and reflective practice to foster self-awareness, self-management and resilience in athletes and coaches. Of particular interest to Dr. Condie is developing competent, equipped and resilient practitioners into the fields of clinical and sport psychology, self-care, positive psychology, the athletic identity, managing transitions in sport and resilience. 

Andrea Cook served as president at Warner Pacific University in Portland, Oregon from 2008 to 2020. Dr. Cook has worked as an administrator at five colleges and universities over a period of 43 years, working in financial aid, records, enrollment, marketing, advancement, external relations and as president. Cook also has extensive experience in institutional and programmatic accreditation processes, and has served on national and regional boards; including the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. During her presidential tenure at Warner Pacific University, the institution became the first 4-year institution in the state of Oregon to be federally designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Dr. Cook earned a MS and PhD, in educational policy and management from the University of Oregon.

Malia (they/them) has been the access services assistant for the UWS library since 2019. As such, they help out in the day-to-day functions of the library, including circulation, research guide maintenance, assisting the student workers and other administrative tasks. They also handle interlibrary loans and document delivery, and give occasional reference services when needed. They're the main frontline contact of the UWS library along with the student workers. Malia received a BA in communication from Portland State University and later graduated from the Master of Library Science program of Emporia State University in 2018. Outside of work, they're a quiet homebody who likes to read all kinds of books.

Lyn is a seasoned professional with a decade of work in higher education. Prior to that, Lyn had a long-standing career in the private sector. Additionally, Lyn was a D-1…

Dr. Erin Davis holds a PhD in Higher Education and a MS in Student Affairs Administration from Indiana University.  She also received her BA in History and English Literature from…

Rian Debner (they/them) serves as the university librarian in the UWS library. They are responsible for understanding the information needs of academic programs and providing appropriate resources to meet those needs. Rian Debner oversees information literacy programming and ensures that the library is a key asset in faculty development and student attraction and retention. They manage the library's collections, which includes acquiring, managing, and delivering those resources to all campus constituencies. Prior to this position, they served as the head of library public Services at UWS, managing the reference, instruction, and access services functions of the library. With over 20 years of experience as an instructor, they taught within the doctor of chiropractic program and created learning objects, tutorials and mini-courses for all academic programs at UWS. Before coming to University of Western States, Rian was a tenured faculty librarian at Mt. Hood Community College, where they were a liaison to its health sciences and science programs. They have also served as a librarian at Portland Community College, Lewis & Clark College, Clackamas Community College, and Minneapolis Community & Technical College. Prior to their library career, they taught French at the University of Minnesota and martial arts at a dojo in Minneapolis, Minn. Rian Debner has a Bachelor of Arts in French from Bryn Mawr College, a Master of Arts (MA) in French from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) from Dominican University.

Dr. Cari DeCandia is a peak performance coach, consultant and educator who has the privilege of working with a broad range of elite performers looking to close the gap between their current and potential outcomes. Dr. DeCandia is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC®) with the Association of Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) and has both a master’s and doctorate in sport and performance psychology from University of Western States. She currently serves as an adjunct faculty member for the department of sport and performance psychology.