Meet Our Faculty

Karl Baldessari
Assistant Professor of Aviation
Email: kbaldessari@cocc.edu 

With more than 35 years of experience in the field of aviation, Karl brings extensive knowledge into the classroom. Career highlights include serving as a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter pilot, an aviation manufacturing manager, and an aviation educator and trainer. Karl is a graduate of the United States Coast Guard Academy, Naval Aviation Flight Training, and Command Staff College. Additional post-graduate education and training in aviation safety, human factors, risk management, and safety-management systems resonate in all his classes and during flight training. 

As a lifelong learner, Karl uses his broad industry knowledge and decades of lessons learned to help develop the next generation of professional pilots. 

Lisa Shipman
Associate Professor I of Aviation
Email: lshipman@cocc.edu 

After working in the aviation industry for 25 years, Lisa enjoys sharing her knowledge and experience with students as they train to become professional aviators. In particular, she likes helping students as they explore potential career options in the field of aviation. Early in her career, Lisa owned a flight school and charter service and later went on to fly jet airplanes in the corporate and charter industry for over 20 years before coming to COCC. She has extensive experience with flight instruction and ground instruction at all levels of aviation training and teaches a variety of classes in the Aviation curriculum. 

Lisa continues to work part-time in the industry, flying a corporate jet for a local company and serving as a flight instructor at the Bend Airport.  

Michelle Hight
Assistant Professor of Aviation
Email: mhight@cocc.edu 

Michelle's first career was as a C-130 pilot in the U.S. Air Force. When she retired in 2014, she began teaching at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU). The jump to Part 121 training management happened in 2021, when she was recruited to carry her PhD work into developing leadership courses and facilitation skills for instructors and evaluators at a major airline. She oversaw cross-fleet and Human Factors programs (including Crew Resource Management (CRM) and Threat and Error Management (TEM). Her work in CRM and TEM led to her joining the LOSA Collaborative, where she combines her love for science-backed safety assessment with her extensive knowledge of aviation. Michelle is also owner of MPH Human Factors LLC, a consulting group of aviators and researchers focused on improving aviation safety.

Michelle's true passion will always be mentoring pilots beginning this exciting journey. Each student comes with a unique story and goals, and she enjoys the opportunity to help them reach those goals, drawing from her decades of flying, military and major airline experience.