About Nicole
Nicole has been interested in veterinary medicine since she was a child, growing up with a menagerie of animals. She started working as a technician assistant in high school and was trained as a technician on the job, working in that role throughout college.
She fell in love with the critical cases and started running more complex anesthetic cases during that time. Following completion of her undergraduate degree from Colorado State University in biological science, she attended Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine for her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. She completed her clinical year at North Carolina State University (NCSU) followed by internships at Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington D.C. (rotating) and returned to NCSU for a specialty internship in small animal emergency and critical care (ECC). She pursued residency training in ECC with a concurrent master's in biomedical sciences at the University of Missouri as well as in anesthesia and analgesia at the University of Georgia, before joining the faculty at the University of Illinois. After moving back to Colorado, she worked as the head of anesthesia at Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital as well as the medical director at another clinic. When presented with the opportunity to return to academia and join the faculty at Colorado State University, there was no hesitation in applying. She is honored to have joined the Anesthesia and Pain Care team at CSU as a tenure track faculty member.
Throughout her education, she has been recognized for her clinical aptitude with the DOCS Companion Animal Faculty Clinical Proficiency award at NCSU and the Redhage award at the University of Missouri. During residency, she embraced clinically based research and since then has won numerous awards for abstract presentations in pharmacokinetics, large, and small animal anesthesia topics. She is thrilled to be able to pursue her research interests in critical patients undergoing anesthesia to improve their care with goal-directed therapy supported by science. This includes investigation into how to manage patients with difficult airways, perioperative care of cardiac interventional procedures, and exotic species.
She looks forward to what the future holds for her career! By her side, she is supported by her loving husband, who she met at CSU in undergrad, and their four legged crew. They enjoy hiking, aerial arts (silks/fabrics and lyra specifically), motorcycle riding, baking/cooking, and horseback riding.