My Educational Lineage

Rehabilitation & Performance

• I began my higher education at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO, way back in 2001. My trajectory was originally veterinary medicine, but I pivoted to human medicine in my final year. In that year plus the following, I was deeply fortunate to land myself an undergraduate research position in the lab of Dr. Doug Ishii — a phenomenal professor and neuroscientist who took me under his wing and exploded my mind with all the intricacies of the human brain. This is where I first became fascinated with the connection between exercise and the brain, specifically learning and memory. I was very close to throwing in my ambitions of working directly with people and instead pursuing a PhD in neuroscience under his tutelage. Ultimately I chose to take what I was learning to clinical practice, and today, as my work in concussion brings this full circle, I find myself channeling Dr. Ishii’s wisdom on a regular basis. Sadly, my beloved mentor passed away this spring (2025) at the age of 83. Here’s a great article about the life and work of this extraordinary man.

• I continued on to the University of Colorado School of Medicine, pursuing my doctoral degree in Physical Therapy. Over my three intense years there I learned so much from all the faculty and the clinical instructors on my rotations, but one experience in particular stands out: I went to a conference and was lucky to meet two world-renowned physical therapy researchers from the US Army-Baylor University in San Antonio, TX: Dr. John Childs and Dr. Deydre Teyhen. A fellow classmate and I schemed our way into a joint clinical/research rotation with them down in Texas in our final year, and the months I spent down there opened my eyes and kicked my ass in the best ways. We pulled 15 hour days between our research work with the Army Medics and clinical work between the acclaimed Texas Physical Therapy Specialists and the Lackland Air Force Base. It would take volumes to write all I learned in my time with John and Deydre — but above all, the most important was learning to truly think critically in ways I’d never experienced before.

This could easily turn into a novel — I am going to be less wordy from here on out!

• Mary Taylor in Denver, CO was my first clinical mentor out of graduate school, and she was a phenomenal women’s health therapist. I learned so much from her about all things pelvic floor and core stabilization.

• Keith Christianssen of Impact Sports Medicine in Boulder, CO was my second clinical mentor, also my employer. Under his tutelage I began my career in sports medicine. He was a gait specialist, and not only influenced me as a therapist and performance coach, but changed my life as an athlete as well. I’d been told by several orthopedic docs that I should not be a long-distance runner because of my “miserable malalignment syndrome” — yes, this is a real diagnosis. I’d also had two meniscal tears during grad school that I treated non-operatively, but I never fully returned to running, which was my first love as a sport from the time I was four years old. Keith taught me how to rehabilitate and run in a way that allowed function to overcome structure — within 6 months of training with him, I was running marathon distances, and went on to run ultramarathon distances, even while carrying an overnight pack during fastpacking pursuits. I owe SO much to his expertise, and my work today with clients in gait and running has Keith’s foundation at its core.

• Trent and KayLynne Ezzell of Heights Performance in Gunnison, CO were my third clinical mentors and third (and final) employers. Building on Keith’s foundation, they taught me so much about neuromuscular re-education, motor control, alignment, and the intersection of rehabilitation and performance.

Adventure Performance & Coaching

• Alison Powers deserves her own novel for her impact on my life and my coaching work. I was fortunate to be coached and mentored by her for 7 years in the prime of her own athletic career — she is still the only person to have held the US National Championship titles in all three disciplines of road racing (time trial, criterium, and road race) at the same time. She was also a key person in one of the most pivotal times of my life: in 2010 I went through a difficult divorce and the following year made my bid to become a professional mountain bike athlete. I would 100% not be where I am today without Alison’s mentorship and support.

• Donny Roth, former professional backcountry skier and mentor/guide, taught me about longevity and sustainability as an adventure athlete, training for multiple adventure sports, and expanded my knowledge of traveling through remote backcountry terrain.

• I have been fortunate to learn from the expertise of and/or be mentored by several other excellent adventure sport coaches over the years: Frank Overton, Chris Carmichael, Lindsey Richter, Paul Howard, Scott Johnson, Kurt Refsnider, Lynda Wallenfels, Jenny Smith, David & Megan Roche, Joe McConaughy, and others whom I’m probably forgetting and will add later.