Jose Flores, Graduate Student

Jose completed his undergraduate degree at the University of North Texas. Jose is a soccer coach with seven years of experience, who has coached players from the youth to collegiate level. He is also an adaptive extreme sports coach, who primarily works with individuals who are on the autism spectrum. Coaching soccer and adaptive extreme sports made Jose want to explore sport psychology as a way to promote performance excellence. After completing his Kinesiology master’s degree at WWU Sport and Exercise Psychology option, Jose wants to continue helping others achieve performance excellence, from the sideline of a soccer pitch, in the gym, or teaching others about sport and exercise psychology.

Rich Nodarse, Graduate Student

Rich grew up in a coastal town in Southern Maine. Before moving to Washington, Rich specialized as an electrician in the U.S. Coast Guard. Rich earned his B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Sport Psychology from Western Washington University. Throughout his two undergraduate years at WWU, Rich rowed competitively for the men’s crew team, winning gold medals at the club regional and national championships. Rich’s captivation with the characteristics and psychological skills of those who excel in high-performance environments, and interests related to mental health, compelled him to explore these areas of psychology academically. After attaining his master’s degree, Rich plans to pursue a doctorate in counseling or clinical psychology with the intention of practicing as a clinical sport psychologist.

Charissa Kirby, Graduate Student

Charissa was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. She graduated in 2023 from Western Washington University with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Sport Psychology. Her degree and previous experience as a gymnast and coach sparked her desire to further explore the psychological components of performance through which she can help athletes and exercisers optimize performance. Charissa is now pursuing an M.S. in Kinesiology: Sport and Exercise Psychology option and plans to continue her education after finishing the program by pursuing a Ph.D. in clinical or counseling psychology to become a licensed clinical sport psychologist.

Claire Baker, Graduate Student

Claire was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. She graduated from Clark University, with a B.A. in Psychology in 2023, where she was also a member of the volleyball team. Having been involved in sports her entire life, and after studying psychology, she became interested in the intersection of these fields, which inspired her to come to Western to pursue an M.S. in Kinesiology with a specialization in Sport and Exercise Psychology. After completion of the program, Claire hopes to continue her education by pursuing a Ph.D. in clinical or counseling psychology with the ultimate goal of working with athletes or performers on mental health concerns.

Dr. Linda Keeler, EdD, CMPC, Co-Director CPE

Linda Keeler, EdD, CMPC #262

Co-Director, Center for Performance Excellence

Professor, Sport and Exercise Psychology, Department of Health and Human Development
Dr. Keeler is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant, an Association for Applied Sport Psychology Fellow, and is listed on the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee Sport Psychology and Mental Training Registry. After completing her bachelor’s degree in psychology at Colgate University, Dr. Keeler obtained her master’s degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in sport psychology from the University of Maryland at College Park. Her education was completed at West Virginia University with a doctorate in sport and exercise psychology and a second master’s degree in counseling. Dr. Keeler has been at Western since 2012. She was a competitive rugby player for twelve years, attended National team camps, select-side competitions, and was a member of a nationally ranked club team. Dr. Keeler also served as the Mental Skills consultant for USA Women’s Rugby from 2003-2010. Further, Dr. Keeler has worked with a wide range of individual exercisers and athletes, as well as youth, intercollegiate, recreational, and elite level teams.

Dr. Jessyca Arthur-Cameselle, EdD, CMPC, Co-Director CPE

Co-Director, Center for Performance Excellence

Professor, Sport & Exercise Psychology, Department of Health & Human Development

Dr. Arthur-Cameselle (she/her/hers) is a licensed psychologist and Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) with the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. She has provided sport and performance psychology counseling to individuals at the professional, collegiate, high school, and recreational levels, including actors, dancers, and musicians. She leads sport psychology group seminars at collegiate athletic departments as well as golf and tennis clubs around the country. In addition, she works directly with coaches and leaders on performance enhancement, managing group dynamics, and self-care. Prior to working in academia, Dr. Arthur-Cameselle was a full-time psychologist in college counseling center settings (Vassar College, Purchase College). Her clinical expertise is in treating eating disorders, social anxiety, panic disorder, and OCD.

Dr. Arthur-Cameselle has a master’s and doctorate in counseling psychology, with an emphasis in sport psychology, from Boston University (BU). She completed bachelor’s degrees in psychology and kinesiology at the College of William & Mary, where she also played tennis. As a nationally ranked player, she qualified for the singles, doubles, and team NCAA Division I tournaments and later achieved a world ranking on the professional tennis circuit. She was previously a collegiate tennis coach, serving as the assistant women’s coach at BU and assistant men’s coach at Purchase College, State University of NY. She is active in the local sport community as a youth soccer coach, USTA league tennis player, and recreational soccer player.

Dr. Ralph Vernacchia, Emeritus Faculty

Emeritus Faculty

Founder, Center for Performance Excellence

Dr. Vernacchia, founder and previous director of the CPE, was a professor in the department of Physical Education, Health and Recreation at WWU for nearly 40 years, where he directed undergraduate and graduate courses in sport psychology. He is a co-author/editor of two sport psychology books and has presented extensively on a variety of sport psychology topics throughout the nation. He has served as a performance consultant to coaches, parents, and numerous athletes on the youth sport, high school, university, professional and Olympic levels. He has also traveled internationally with USA track and field teams to several world championships.