Directory

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 AVP 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 from…

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.

Dr. Clark is an assistant professor in the new naturopathic medicine program at the University of Western States, of which she is excited to be a part. She is teaching the six-part function and dysfunction series, biomedical integration I, II and III and neuroscience. She greatly enjoys working in a collaborative environment with other faculty members and administrators, as well as teaching and working with students. Dr. Clark earned a BS in physics from Oregon State University in 2000, and ND and MAc degrees from National University of Natural Medicine in 2011. She was in private practice from 2012 to 2020. She began her career in teaching in 2019 at Oregon College of Oriental Medicine in Portland, Oregon, where she served as chair of the integrative medicine department from 2019 to 2023.  In this capacity, she worked with faculty in the biomedicine, research and professional development departments to introduce new curriculum as well as provide support, mediation and consultation in the areas of course design, policymaking and student/faculty and faculty/administration issues. At UWS, she is eager to further cultivate her skillsets in pedagogy, course development and the integration of technology into both education and medicine. She is happy to be a part of this wonderful community.

Professor Clay is a licensed professional counselor in the District of Columbia, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and a national certified counselor. She has worked in the mental health field for the last 10 years providing culturally competent techniques to a plethora of clients. With training in hyper-sensitive subjects such as trauma, death, dying and grief; she has been able to provide individual and group counseling that benefits the wellness of her clients assist in healthy processing. As a certified school counselor, she has aided in the betterment of children as young as three years of age. Professor Clay’s experience ranges from school/academia to community practice to private practice where she's worked for the last 10 years. Her research interests include cultural techniques in mental health, clinical supervision, race and equity, and women issues in mental health.

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.

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.

Dr. Nicole Detling, CMPC, is the founder and owner of HeadStrong Consulting, LLC, a mental performance coaching company. Having worked with performers in disciplines from sport to coaching to dance to business since 1998, Nicole regularly travels the world in support of high level performances. She is also a highly sought-after keynote speaker and has worked with businesses all over the world to deliver dynamic and memorable speeches.  Dr. Detling has been to three Olympic and Paralympic Games as part of Team USA and has worked with 32 different athletes who won medals in their respective sports. She has also coached 16 world champions, two national championship teams, six PAC-12 championship teams, and 14 state champions. In addition, Nicole has worked with individual athletes in the NBA, NFL, MLB, PGA, NHL, MLS, MLR and professional rock climbers and cyclists. She also spent three years as the mental performance coach for the MLS club Real Salt Lake (1st team), Real Monarchs (2nd team), an Utah Royals (NWSL team).

Dr. Donoff was born and raised in Florida, and received her BA and MA in history from the University of South Florida. Following a change in career interests, Dr. Donoff…

Thomas is a graduate of Western Oregon University and holds a Master of Science in rehabilitation counseling, a specialty area which focuses on the biopsychosocial impact of medical illness, chronic…

Ashley Duguay holds a PhD from the University of Windsor (Kinesiology – Sport and Exercise Psychology) along with a Master’s of Human Kinetics (Sport and Exercise Psychology) from the University of Windsor and a Master’s of Education (Sport Leadership) from the Center for Sport Leadership (CSL) at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her graduate research centered on athlete leadership, with her master’s thesis focused on the development, implementation, and evaluation of an athlete leadership development program for varsity athletes, and her dissertation focused on understanding shared leadership and emotional intelligence in relation to athlete leadership. Her research has recently expanded to also include topics associated with high-impact teaching and learning in the field of sport and exercise psychology, especially as it relates to distance education. In addition to her role as an adjunct instructor, Ashley works as a Mental Performance Consultant (MPC) and is a professional member of the Canadian Sport Psychology Association (CSPA). She is a trained Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement (MSPE) instructor and an approved CMPC mentor through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP). As an MPC, Ashley seeks to facilitate the development of skills, attitudes, qualities, processes and perspectives that support her clients’ (e.g., athletes, teams, coaches, sport organizations) mental performance while helping them achieve positive personal development and performance improvement. Her interest in this field has been directly influenced by her experiences in sport (especially team sports) as an athlete and coach.