Originally from the Sierra Nevada foothills, Kristen grew up immersed in nature, which led her to a life centered around herbalism.

Kristen’s earned her BA in Socio-Cultural Anthropology, with a focus in ethnobotany and environmental anthropology, at UC Berkeley in 2012. She has formally studied Western herbalism since 2013 and it has laid the foundation for her practice.

Following her passion for connecting people to plants, Kristen earned her Masters of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine at the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine in 2020. Within these intensive studies, she completed her capstone graduate research project on the relationship between mental-emotional disorders, the gut microbiome, and chronic digestive diseases, representative of her ethos in the field.

With the intention to tie her practice into an integrative medicine paradigm, Kristen completed her Doctorate of Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine at the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2022. Drawing from past academic work, she wrote her final research on the medical anthropology of Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome in the context of Classical Chinese Medicine and Western medicine treatments, exemplifying the balance of both worlds as necessary in modern practice.

When not treating patients, Kristen and her pup Rosario can be found rompin’ around the Eastern Sierra, chasing its high-desert light and big starry skies. Beyond the clinic, Kristen works as a freelance botanical watercolor illustrator, cultivates medicinal Chinese and Western herbs, practices QiGong, and loves to be near water of any kind.

She runs a sister practice LUPINS Acupuncture & Herbs in Mariposa, California outside of Yosemite National Park.

LUPINS WEST is an all-bodies-welcome inclusive & safe space of healing.

@fieldnotes.co to check out her botanical watercolor illustrations

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