WSU ROAR staff and faculty

Kristi Tippett

About the interim director

Kristi was born and raised in Washington state and is exceptionally fond of WSU Pullman’s Cleveland Hall, home of WSU ROAR. Over the past 27 years, she has spent countless hours there: First as an undergraduate student earning a teaching degree; next as a graduate student seeking a master’s degree in educational psychology; and recently, teaching for the College of Education.

Kristi has enjoyed teaching and learning through a variety of different roles within the K12 environment, including assignments in inclusive classrooms, resource rooms, life skills centers, teacher professional development, and advocacy work. For the past few years, she has been providing instruction for preservice teachers at WSU.

Kristi’s husband, Ryan, is also a WSU alumnus. Their oldest son, Ryker, is a sophomore at WSU and their two daughters, Emerson and Piper, attend Pullman Public Schools. Together they enjoy hiking, camping, and snow and water sports.

Email Kristi

Program Coordinator

Casey Blamires

Casey is a dynamic computer nerd turned educator who thrives in the world of teaching, advising, and lending a hand wherever possible. With over two decades of experience as a web developer and programmer, Casey relishes the challenges that coding brings. A creative spirit, Casey enjoys reading, drawing, playing music, writing, and cooking.

An avid gamer and passionate Dungeons and Dragons enthusiast, Casey also has an impressive collecting of seven ukuleles and a knack for playing them. Though he has yet to conquer a pull-up successfully, Casey is a pro at tying two different types of necktie knots and can successfully use chopsticks. While heights are a foe and pizza has lost its charm for him, Casey’s love for plants and plant-like things is growing. He is fluent in English, is conversational in Spanish, and knows like three words in German. Casey brings a unique blend of technical prowess, creativity, and human touch to everything he does.

And once, just once, Casey pulled off an epic backflip. You had to be there.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Pics or it didn’t happen.]

Employment Services Coordinator

Bailey Gauthier

[Casey’s bio coming soon.]

Independent Living and Outreach Coordinator

Kelley Wilds

Kelley moved to Pullman from Knoxville, TN to attend graduate school. She received her M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction from WSU in 2022. Before moving to Washington, she worked for over four and a half years as a Public Health Educator. She is currently working on her PhD in Special Education, and her research focus is around comprehensive sexuality education for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In her free time, Kelley enjoys spending time with friends and family and exploring the PNW.

Don McMahon

Program implementation, audit classes, & digital literacy

In addition to his normal duties as an associate professor of Special Education, Don McMahon has played an integral part of WSU ROAR, which he helped co-found. Don’s work is focused on Universal Design for Learning, Assistive Technology, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Wearable devices, Mobile Devices, Mobile Learning, and Instructional technology. At WSU Don McMahon coordinates the VR2GO Lab, which specializes in assistive technology research.

He graduated from the Special Education Ph.D. program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. While at the University of Tennessee, Don was on the program staff of a postsecondary education program similar to ROAR where he designed and taught courses in digital citizenship for students with disabilities.

Kira Carbonneau

Assistive Living Advisors (ALAs) and Peer Ally activities

Kira Carbonneau is an associate professor of Educational Psychology of and a graduate from the University of New Mexico. Her research examines issues at the intersection of cognitive theory and classroom application and includes interests associated with: cognitive principles of instructional methods, instructional manipulatives in early childhood education, mathematics education, executive functioning, self-regulation, and embodiment.

Kira’s most recent research assesses the efficacy of manipulative-based instructional strategies within elementary classrooms.

Marcus Poppen

Employment services; career and professional planning class

Marcus Poppen’s research and scholarship is broadly focused on supporting career development and transition outcomes for youth and young adults with disabilities. His interests include understanding the unique paths of career development for youth and young adults with disabilities, including those involved in the juvenile justice system, foster care system, and/or living with mental health concerns; collaborative school-based transition programs that are designed to facilitate the coordination and delivery of pre-employment transition services; and, program evaluation and capacity building efforts that support data-based decision making.

Holly Whittenburg

Independent living class

Holly Whittenburg’s research focuses on improving employment outcomes for transition-aged students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability. Work is an important part of growing up for most young adults, but students with disabilities often face significant barriers to employment. In her work, Dr. Whittenburg examines interventions to teach employment-related skills, investigates approaches to creating more opportunities for inclusive work experiences, and considers how special education and vocational rehabilitation law and policies affect the transition experiences of students with disabilities.

Lauren Bruno

Health, wellness, and sexual education class

Dr. Bruno teaches courses in special education and creates engaging learning environments by using the principles of UDL across all of her courses – giving students opportunities to apply what they learn to their future professions. She is dedicated to the development of pre-service teachers to use evidence-based practices and create inclusive learning environments. Dr. Bruno has experience teaching students with low-incidence disabilities at the high school level, which has influenced her interest in providing all students the greatest opportunities for transition.

Malachi Chukwu

Malachi is a doctoral student pursuing a degree in Cultural Studies and Social Thought in Education. His research focuses on inclusivity in the postsecondary learning environment, educational policy-cultural practices that foster a sense of belonging for minority and underrepresented students in educational settings, and educational policy-cultural practices that promote inclusion in the postsecondary learning environment. He is also fascinated by the connection between social knowledge and civic engagement. His McNair scholarship experience fueled his determination to advocate for inclusion and assist all students in their educational pursuits. He is thrilled to be a part of the ROAR program and to be able to mentor the students. Malachi enjoys traveling with his family, spending time with them, playing and watching soccer.

Rose Maleki

Rose is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in Language, Literacy, and Technology. She works on linguistic frameworks in critical discourse analysis and is a great advocate of inclusion and equity in education through culturally sustaining pedagogies. She cherishes the pillars of ROAR (Responsibility, Opportunity, Advocacy, and Respect) in that she is dedicated to empowering ROAR scholars to feel responsible for shaping their own futures. She is determined to provide opportunities for personal and academic growth, ensuring that each individual can advocate for themselves and others. She values the importance of advocacy to have informed and engaged global citizens who deserve respect in a community that values and uplifts every member.

Maliha Shah

Maliha is a doctoral student pursuing a degree in Language, Literacy, and Technology in Education. Her research focuses on equitable student engagement for learners with diverse learning dispositions, challenges, needs, preferences. By investigating how equitable learning environments and inclusive practices impact student engagement and learning experiences, Maliha aims to develop actionable solutions that foster a more inclusive educational landscape. As the instructor for Independent Living within the ROAR program, she is passionate about creating transformative educational experiences by using Universal Design for Learning with emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). As a Fulbright scholar, she gains extensive exposure to international educational practices and policies, facilitating engagement with a wide range of cultural and academic perspectives. Beyond her academic endeavors, Maliha indulges in music, painting, and photography. She is delighted to be a member of the ROAR team.

Hayden Buchanan

Before becoming an ALA for ROAR, Hayden was a WSU ROAR student for 2 years. He comes from a small town in Washington, Coulee City. He is excited for the new adventure of helping ROAR students with independent living tasks and social events. Hayden always looks for the opportunity to build connections with students within his community. Hayden is working on a bachelors degree in Digital Technology & Culture and one-day hopes to build website. His hobbies include playing Xbox games, creating and editing videos, and going to Resonate church on the WSU campus.

Callie Gerber

Callie is a third-year undergraduate student majoring in psychology with the intention of going into the field of psychiatry. She aims to use a compassionate approach when helping someone by looking at all aspects of a challenge and works to identify effective support strategies. This is her first year working for WSU ROAR as an Assistive Living Advisor and is very excited to help ROAR students meet their goals. In her free time, she enjoys going to yoga, coloring, enjoying the outdoors, knitting, and trying new things.

Kirin Smith

Kirin is a second-year undergraduate student majoring in Zoology with a focus in animal care. She hopes to use her degree to help bring more rehabilitated wildlife into Washington zoos. This is her first year working with the WSU ROAR program and is thrilled for the opportunity to assist fellow students navigate life at WSU. When not studying in Pullman, she spends most of her time in her hometown of Tacoma, Washington.