Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I was born and raised in Lethbridge, attending high school at LCI and working at the Lethbridge YMCA as their youth leadership coordinator and summer camp counsellor and eventually director at Camp Canyon in Waterton Lakes National Park. I attended the University of Lethbridge from 1991 to 1995 to study a music performance major (percussion) with a minor in, at the time, Native American Studies. I left the university in 1995, without finishing my degree (one course short) to move to Calgary and begin working with the Enviros Wilderness School Association as a youth counselor and wilderness risk manager. From this experience I worked with the Rocky Mountain YMCA and Camp Chief Hector as a backpacking and canoe tripping leader; with Fall Protection Group Inc. as a high angle rescue instructor trainer; with The Rocky Mountain Paddling Centre as a canoe and kayak instructor; and as a wilderness first responder instructor with Wilderness Medical Associates International.

In 2003, I entered the Bachelor of Nursing Program through Athabasca University at Mount Royal College, graduating in 2007 with distinction. From there I began working full time as an emergency room nurse at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary, The Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, Sask., The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and The Ottawa Hospital.

In 2014, I moved out of primary frontline nursing and began working in nursing education and management at CHEO, firstly as a nurse educator on their medical units and then as their manager. I then moved to CHEO’s emergency department as their manager in 2016 and continued in this role until 2024. 

How long have you been at ULethbridge, and what do you do here?

I was hired in 2024 to the Faculty of Health Sciences in the acute care team as an instructor for clinical, theory and lab education. I am currently completing my Master of Science in Kinesiology here at ULethbridge and hope to be completed by summer 2028.

What’s the best part of your job?

Supporting students to make connections from theory to practice that supports ongoing learning and critical thinking. 

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I run with my huskies in the coulees, scramble mountains in Waterton, Crowsnest Pass and Kananaskis, cross-country and back country ski in the winter and read whenever I am not doing those things.