Justin Gardner, D.O., FACEP, FAWM, DiMM, DIDMM

Justin is the founder and director of the VTC Wilderness Medicine Journal Club Series. Justin graduated from WVSOM in Lewisburg, WV and completed his Emergency Medicine residency at Henry Ford Macomb hospital in Clinton Township, MI, followed by a Wilderness Medicine fellowship with Carilion Clinic. He is now faculty with the Carilion Wilderness Medicine fellowship and Clinical Preceptor with VTCSOM.

Justin is a WLS:MP, WFA, and ACA River Safety and Rescue instructor. Justin has completed his FAWM (Matterhorn),  DiMM, and DiDMM certifications through the WMS. He is an SSI Master Diver. He is the current chair of the WMS Student/Resident Education Committee.  

He hopes to increase cooperation among wilderness medicine groups and make it easier for students and residents to access wilderness medicine training. Justin enjoys mountain biking, hiking, kayaking, backpacking, camping, snowboarding, SCUBA diving, and adventures with wife, daughter, and dog.

Stephanie Lareau, M.D., FAWM, FACEP, DiMM, DiDMM

Dr. Lareau is an Emergency Medicine physician at Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Virginia and associate professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. She is the medical director for the ED at Carilion Franklin Memorial Hospital. She completed a Wilderness Medicine fellowship at Georgia Health Sciences and completed her EM residency and medical school at Wake Forest University. She is the Wilderness Medicine fellowship director at VT-Carilion.

Dr. Lareau earned the fellowship of Wilderness Medicine and diploma in Mountain Medicine. She is a member of the WMS board of directors. She also serves as WMS DiMM faculty and as a director for the WMS Student/Resident Elective in Virginia and the VTC/Radford WM Student Elective. 

Her research interests include injuries in endurance mountain biking races, the effectiveness of high-fidelity simulation in WM education, student WM elective curriculum and Lyme disease within southwest Virginia. She is the education section editor for the Journal of Wilderness and Environmental Medicine. She is a certified level 4 river safety and rescue instructor through the ACA. She is an AWLS course director and instructor. She is also a WFA and CPR/AED instructor through ECSI and a dive physician through UHMS/NOAA. She has earned a diploma in Dive and Marine Medicine from the WMS. Outdoors, Dr. Lareau enjoys mountain biking, sailing, paddling, rock climbing, skiing and SCUBA diving with her husband and dog.

Kara Hatlevoll, DO, MHA, MS, FAWM

Kara Hatlevoll grew up in rural North Carolina. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota and graduate education at Tulane School of Medicine and Oklahoma State University. She completed medical school at Campbell University in North Carolina and her emergency medicine residency at Norman Regional Hospital in Oklahoma. Originally from North Carolina, she has been an educator and practitioner for wilderness medicine since 2013, first as a Wilderness EMT and now as a physician.  She completed the Carolina Wilderness EMS Externship in 2022 and serves on the Wilderness Medical Society Student and Resident Education Committee, Emergency Medicine Resident Association (EMRA)’s Wilderness Medicine Committee and is Associate Faculty for Wilderness Medicine at Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine. She loves spending time reminding students and residents that medicine can still be interesting and fun! She enjoys any activity that is outdoors but is preferential to snowboarding, backpacking, camping, rock climbing, and spending time with her husband and pets. She is thrilled to be a part of the Carilion family and have the opportunity to learn and practice medicine in a new and wonderful location. She hopes to find ways to give back to the wilderness community that has fostered her interest and love of medicine during fellowship. 

Rich Durnan AGACNP, FNP

Rich is currently an Emergency Medicine Nurse Practitioner at Carilion Clinic in Roanoke Virginia, a Paramedic, and a graduate of the Carilion Clinic Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP) Emergency Medicine Fellowship, and currently in the Carilion Wilderness Medicine Fellowship working towards his Diploma in Mountain Medicine (DiMM).  Rich obtained his nursing degree at Colorado Mesa University, and his advanced Practice Nursing degree at Colorado State University Pueblo. He worked as a professional firefighter and high angle rescue instructor, Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) instructor, backcountry ranger, ski patroller, and as a river guide in Maine and Nepal. He is a lifelong outdoor adventure enthusiast having participated in and organized multiple climbing and whitewater expeditions across Asia, South America, Europe and North America.

Amy Drago NP, CCRN

Amy Drago is an Emergency Medicine Nurse Practitioner at Carilion Clinic. She completed an Emergency Medicine NP/PA fellowship last year, and is excited to be a part of the Wilderness Medicine Fellowship. She previously worked as a nurse for 10 years in acute care, intermediate care, and intensive care.  She currently serves in the Air Force Reserves as a nurse on a Critical Care Air Transport Team (CCATT), based out of Colorado. She has deployed in combat roles to Afghanistan and Niger and has participated in worldwide exercises in South America, Europe, and across the US. Amy grew up outside Pittsburgh, PA and completed her degrees at Penn State University and Georgetown University, respectively.  She loves the outdoors, and is frequently found summiting 14ers in Colorado, backcountry backpacking, kayaking, hiking, skiing, and traveling internationally. Amy has goals to reach every continent, with just Antartica and Australia remaining. She has a dog, Laika, who she loves exploring with, and recently acquired 6 chickens. Amy is thrilled to pursue her DiMM and FAWM through the WMS, and hopes to utilize these skills serving in austere environments throughout her career.