College & Internship...
Central Oregon Community College is where I began my nutritional journey after taking a basic nutrition class taught by an engaging teacher. She mentored me, and I continued on to Oregon State University in Corvallis where I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Food Management. From there, I continued my nutrition education in graduate course work, while completing an internship program through Oregon Health Sciences University in Medford and the surrounding areas in Southern Oregon.
During my Dietetic internship at a hospital in Medford, Oregon, I figured out that filling in nutrition notes in patients’ medical charts was not for me. I had that moment of realization and remember it so well. Also, I came to know that my window for educating people about health and nutrition in the hospital was a small one, and it was this that I enjoyed most.
First Job...
My first job after school was with Ashland Community Hospital where I gained clinical experience and enjoyed also meeting with clients in a one to one format. It was here that I had the prosperity of meeting Dr. Michael Stone who encouraged the expansion of my knowledge about the human body, physiology and the cause-effect and interrelated workings of the body as a whole. I began working with him and his team at Stone Medical, PC in Ashland and continued the journey that would forever alter the way that I viewed nutrition and the individual.
The Present & Future...
Each person is genetically different, and one’s environment has an effect on their genetics and how they are expressed- whether toward health, or dis-ease. In looking for causes of dis-ease in the body, we can help support a balance of inter-working systems. Different foods and environments affect each person uniquely.
I look forward to increasing my knowledge about the environment and the interaction of our bodies with it, and helping others to learn what makes them live well.
What health steps and plans would you like to accomplish? I am excited to make new discoveries with you and help you on this journey.
The Beginning...
My education about nutrition goes far back. It does for all of us. We are each a unique combination of our parent’s genetics and environments~ Perhaps then, it makes sense that I do this job today; it is in my very genes. My mother grew up raising animals and gardens, my father grew up hunting elk and deer and catching fish, and gardening. Their parents did the same and so did their parents who instilled and taught them these practices.
So I entered life, a lover of the natural beauty around me and eating of its “fruits.”
In college I began my adventure in preparing foods for myself, and grew to love it more-so after that, and especially now; sharing this love with others.