Meet the Team
MEET OUR SENIOR LEADERSHIP
Senior Leadership
Dr. Ross Palmer - Associate Director of Education
Ross H. Palmer, DVM, MS, Diplomate – American College of Veterinary Surgeons, is currently a Professor of Orthopedics at Colorado State University and the Associate Director of Education within CSU’s Translational Medicine Institute. His career has been evenly divided between private practice and academia. He has served on numerous professional boards, has been the recipient of numerous mentoring awards, and was recently named “VMX Speaker of the Year” by the North American Veterinary Community. As the Director of CSUVetCE, he seeks to foster a collision between inspired learners, engaged educators and meaningful experiences.
Ross loves all things outdoors including hiking, biking, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and fishing. He loves to retreat with family to their “off the grid” island cabin in NW Ontario, Canada.
Favorite Half-Day Itinerary: I’m prone to hike or snowshoe (rentals available at REI) at Arthur’s Rock. Afterward, I’ll quench my thirst with some great local IPA’s brewed onsite at Equinox Brewing, in Old Town, Fort Collins. If you’re a fly fisherman, hit St. Peter’s Fly Shop across the street from Equinox for some local flies and river reports. If you’re staying near the Harmony Road corridor, you’ll find some nice German beers (and also IPA’s) at Zwei Brewing Company.
Favorite Full-Day Itinerary: You’ll find me heading up to Estes Park for a nice hike or snowshoeing at the Wild Basin Trailhead. Whether hiking, fishing or both … I’ll follow with a beer at Avant Garde Aleworks in Estes Park (in the summertime they’ve got some great food trucks). Drop by Estes Park Mountain Shop for outdoor gear, snowshoe rentals and the like.
Geri Baker - Senior Manager
Geri is the TMI’s Continuing Education Senior Manager. Geri has been an employee of the university for over 20 years and is a proud RAM fan. She was born in Las Vegas and moved to Colorado to attend CSU and made her home and raised four children in the area. Geri is a veterinary technician and has worked in the VTH as a nurse most recently as the General Surgery Coordinator, but spent time in surgery, anesthesia and teaches surgery skills with the surgery team to PVM students as well. Her hobbies include hiking, gardening, and raising lambs for 4-H.
Geri’s favorite places in Fort Collins:
MEET OUR LAB TEAM
Lab Team
Lauren Waldo - Laboratory Coordinator
Born and raised in South Louisiana, Lauren graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor’s in Animal Science. After spending a few years in private practice, she found her love for working in academia when she joined LSU’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital in 2012 as part of their Small Animal Intensive Care Unit. Having spent 5 of her 6 years in the SAICU, Lauren also spent a year of working with the VTH’s Anesthesia unit. Halfway through 2018, she decided that she needed a change of scenery, which resulted in packing up and moving with her 3 cats across multiple states to settle in Fort Collins, Colorado. She worked primarily as a relief technician until September 2019, when she joined the team of Medical Records at CSU’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
Lauren was excited to join CSU VetCE for a number of reasons. One of her favorite aspects of being in academia is the continual learning and exchange of information between those who know and those who want to know. She cannot wait to see just how far CE can go and everything that the team can accomplish together in the future!
Lauren’s favorite places:
Tori Fischer - Laboratory Assistant
Originally from Minnesota, Tori has been moving around for the past few years from California, Alabama, and Wisconsin before settling in Fort Collins. She is a Large Animal Certified Veterinary Technician as well holds a BS in Animal Science – Equine from University of Wisconsin – River Falls. She enjoys riding horses, camping, hiking, and pretty much anything outdoors, making Colorado the perfect place for her!
Tori’s favorite places:
Payne Pachuda - Laboratory Assistant
Payne graduated from The Ohio State University in the spring of 2021, and immediately packed his life up and moved to Fort Collins. Upon moving here, he began volunteering in the CE lab and has been here since. Outside of working here, he trains full time for triathlons with a focus on half and full distance races. He spends the rest of his time hiking in the mountains and exploring the variety of breweries Fort Collins and Loveland have to offer.
Payne’s favorite places:
Macy Riedemann - Laboratory Assistant
Macy has been working for TMI CE since February 2021. She graduated from CSU with a Bachelors in Biological Sciences with goals of attending Veterinary school soon. She is an avid traveler- she’s traveled to Iceland, Cayman Islands, Canada, Thailand, and one day hope to experience Nepal and trek to Mt. Everest Base Camp.
Macy’s favorite places:
MEET OUR HOSPITALITY TEAM
Hospitality Team
Aza Cob Rose - Assistant Coordinator of Hospitality
Aza recently moved to Colorado from the suburbs of Chicago where she ran a nonprofit for LGBTQ+ folks. Outside of work you can find Aza advocating for all folks by volunteering at local nonprofits in the area. To unwind she enjoys reading, hiking, exploring outdoors, or playing with her animal friends.
Aza’s favorite places:
Gigi Schaller - Assistant Coordinator of Hospitality
In 2018, Gigi moved from the Chicago area to Fort Collins to study at CSU. She graduated in 2021 with a B.S in Zoology and a minor in Chemistry. Although she has been here at the TMI for 3 years, she recently started as an Assistant Coordinator for Continuing Education at the beginning of 2022. She is also pursuing her M.A in Biology with a concentration in Environmental Stewardship and Conservation. She loves spending time with her animals, thrifting, and just being outside.
Gigi’s Favorite places:
Sarah Youssef - Assistant Coordinator of Hospitality
Sarah’s calling is to be of service to students and colleagues for the purpose of creating and promoting educational opportunities.
She is from eastern Pennsylvania, and enjoys reading, knitting, traveling, cycling, and watching her kids’ sporting events (mostly soccer). She has lived in Pennsylvania, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Illinois, and Colorado.
Sarah earned her B.A. degree at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, then went on to complete her M.Ed. in Educational Leadership at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Having previously worked at CSU as an Academic Advisor for a number of years, she then joined Poudre School District as a summer STEM program coordinator. She is excited to be back at CSU in the Translational Medicine Institute!
Matt Begeman - Assistant Coordinator of Hospitality
Matt has both a B.S degree in Health and Exercise Science – Sports Medicine and an M.S degree in Tourism Management from Colorado State University. He has experience in event management with a passion for helping others learn and grow through education and hands on experience. Outside of working at TMI, you may see Matt running or cycling around Fort Collins many multi-purpose trails.
Matt’s favorite places:
MEET OUR ONLINE TEAM
Online Team
Tyler Alvarado - Online Coordinator/Educational Technologist
Tyler earned his B.S. degree at Central Michigan University then went on to complete his M.S. degree in Higher Post-Secondary Education from Syracuse University. He has extensive experience in curriculum and assessment design having worked both in and out of the classroom at Purdue University and, for several years now, at Colorado State University. Tyler is excited to provide distant and in-person participant an online educational experience!
Tyler’s Favorite Places: