BSN – University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

MSN/FNP – Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Kristen first joined the JMU Health Center family in 2002. After working here for about ten years, she worked at a family practice in the community and then taught undergraduate nursing for five years, but has now found her way back home to JMU and her true love, college health. Her main areas of interest in medicine include mental health, health education/preventative health, and reproductive health.

Kristen enjoys working with the college population, as it is such a developmentally pivotal point in the students’ lives. As the students learn to manage their own health with less parental oversight and navigate the health care system often for the first time, they are forming habits that will affect their well-being and both personal and career fulfillment for the rest of their lives. It is a joy to be part of the support network for college students to help them be successful students while they are here; and, at the same time, to be providing them with tools and information to help them have a long, healthy, and productive life well beyond their college years.

"In my free time I enjoy going on ‘walk and talks’ with my husband or a friend, going to one of my three children’s sporting events (I cry like a baby during every cross country race), hiking, and traveling to places I’ve never been before whenever possible.

I love being part of the JMU community. There is a contagious positivity on this campus that I find energizing to be around. Working with the students is exciting – I appreciate how open they are to learning about their health and ways to become and stay healthier. Additionally, I love learning from them, too; it’s exciting to hear about their majors and what they are studying."

“Spread love wherever you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.” – St. Teresa of Calcutta