The Dental Hygiene faculty are dedicated, experienced professionals committed to your success inside and outside the classroom. They provide academic advising and personal program/career planning.
Department Chair | Krista Beaty |
Program Coordinators | |
| Klamath Falls | Krista Beaty |
| Salem | Paula Hendrix |
| Online Degree Completion | Paula Russell |
| Master of Science in Dental Hygiene | Darlene Swigart |
Department Chair
Krista is the Program Site Coordinator and Restorative Lead Instructor for the Klamath Falls Campus. She is responsible for coordinating continuing education and certification courses for restorative certification in Oregon. Her other teaching commitments are in dental materials, and periodontics. Krista has been working in the field of dentistry since 1998, first as a Certified Dental Assistant, then as a Registered Dental Hygienist. She received her dental hygiene degree from Clark College in Vancouver, WA, and her Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene from Eastern Washington University, and her Master of Science degree from Idaho State University. Krista is active in research regarding patients with limited scleroderma and Autism Spectrum Disorder. She has over 19 years of dental hygiene experience, which involve clinical practice in restorative, periodontics, and general dentistry in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. As natives of Washington State, Krista and her family are avid Seahawks fans. Other interests include music, reading, travel, and various outdoor activities in the beautiful Northwest.
Klamath Falls
Darlene is an Associate Professor in the Dental Hygiene Department at Oregon Tech and serves as Program Director for the Master of Science in Dental Hygiene (MSDH) program. She has been a full-time faculty member at Oregon Tech since 2017, bringing more than 18 years of clinical experience in general and periodontal practice to her work in dental hygiene education. After a rewarding clinical career, Darlene pursued her lifelong passion for educating and mentoring future dental hygienists. In addition to her role as MSDH Program Director, Darlene serves as the First-Year Clinical Lead and has taught courses across the dental hygiene curriculum, including Sophomore Prevention, Community Health, Instructional Methods, Evidence-based Decision Making, Introduction to Dental Hygiene, and graduate-level MSDH courses. Darlene is a Fellow of the American Dental Hygienists’ Association and serves on the Journal of Dental Hygiene Editorial Advisory Board. Her commitment to community service is demonstrated through her years of leadership as co-chair of the Klamath Basin Oral Health Coalition, where she advocated for improved oral health access and outcomes for underserved populations in the Klamath Falls community.
Her scholarly interests include dental hygiene diagnosis and treatment planning, head and neck cancer prevention, and the influence of social determinants of health on oral health and dental care. Outside of the university, Darlene enjoys spending time with her family and exploring the outdoors through hiking and kayaking.
Paula serves as Professor for the Dental Hygiene department and Program Coordinator for the RDH to BSDH Degree Completion program, which provides a self-paced, online option for practicing hygienists to finish their B.S. degree in Dental Hygiene.
Paula graduated with her B.S. in Dental Hygiene in 1998. In 2007, Paula started teaching part-time in the Oregon Tech dental hygiene clinic while earning her Master's in Education. She became a full-time faculty member in 2011. Paula has taught a variety of courses in the Dental Hygiene program, such as Sophomore clinic lead, Junior clinic lead, Pain Management I-II, Prevention I-V, Ethics, Radiology, and a wide range of online courses. Paula recently served eight years as Department Chair of Dental Hygiene from 2017-2025, and has recently resumed teaching activities, which are mostly delivered online
Paula is originally from Klamath Falls and enjoys the small-town lifestyle. She owns and operates a small farm and equine boarding facility, which has been a family business for 30+ years. She spends most of her free time outdoors with her animals and gardening.
Jeannie graduated from Portland Community College in 1976 with an Associates degree in dental hygiene. She later obtained her bachelor’s degree from Oregon Tech and a Master of Science degree in Allied Health in 2020. Her long career in dental hygiene took her in many directions including working in a periodontal practice in Munich Germany and coordinating a mobile dental van project in Modesto California. In 2015, Jeannie returned to her roots and began her teaching career at Oregon Tech. Her teaching responsibilities include senior lead instructor, medical emergencies, and a junior prevention series. She is also the instructor for the International Externship Program (IEP) taking senior level students to a global site to give dental hygiene services to underserved populations. This combines her passion for travel and cultural learning with teaching and developing outreach compassion in students.
In her free time, Jeannie loves cooking and to travel and experience new places and cultures. She and her husband also have dairy goats which has led her to making homemade goatmilk soaps and products.
Dr. Marisa (Sonerholm) Fox grew up in Klamath Falls and continues to call the area home. She graduated from Klamath Union High School in 2003 and earned a BS in Biology from Point Loma Nazarene University in 2007. Dr. Fox attended Oregon Health Sciences University School of Dentistry, where she earned her Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry (DMD) in 2011. After previous work as an adjunct faculty member in the Dental Hygiene program at Oregon Tech, Dr. Fox is now excited to rejoin the faculty team as a clinical dentist.
Dr. Fox is married and has a daughter and two sons in addition to a lot of local family, and loves exploring all the outdoor opportunities the Klamath Basin has to offer. In the summer you can find her water-skiing three at a time or riding her collection of vintage stand-up jet-skis.
Stacie grew up in Klamath Falls and graduated from Oregon Tech in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene. After graduation she worked as a clinical dental hygienist at various private dental offices in Southern Oregon. She has been working as an adjunct instructor in the dental hygiene department at Oregon Tech since 2016 and in 2022 became a full-time faculty member in the department. Teaching responsibilities have included dental ethics, head/neck anatomy, histology/embryology, and pharmacology. She also works as a clinical instructor as well in radiology labs. Stacie is currently working on completing her Master of Science degree in Allied Health from Oregon Tech, expected to graduate Summer 2023. In her downtime she enjoys camping and four wheeling on the sand dunes at the Oregon coast with her husband, stepson, and her two dogs.
Emily graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene degree in 2020 from Oregon Institute of Technology, Klamath Falls campus. She is currently pursuing her Master’s with expected completion in 2027. Her love for dentistry began in 2014 when she was a Front Office Coordinator in a private dental office. She later went on to gain experience as a dental assistant prior to going back to school to become a registered dental hygienist. During her time as a clinical hygienist, she has worked within the private, public, and corporate sectors. Emily’s true passion is periodontal disease and its relation to overall systemic health. Emily grew up in Houston, Texas and has one brother. She enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons, Waylon and Cash. Other interests include running, hiking, traveling, and watching sports.
Elizabeth Wells was born and raised in Klamath Falls and is a proud alumna of the Oregon Institute of Technology. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene in 2014 and her Master of Science in Allied Health in 2020. Her career in dental hygiene is driven by a deep passion for community health and outreach, particularly in providing care to
underserved populations.
Over the past decade, Elizabeth has gained extensive experience working in private practice settings, where she has built strong relationships with patients and contributed to high-quality, patient-centered care. She previously served as a faculty member at Oregon Tech and has recently returned in a full-time faculty role, where she continues to enjoy mentoring and educating future dental professionals.
Outside of her professional endeavors, Elizabeth enjoys hiking, spending time outdoors, and making memories with her family. She is the proud mother of four beautiful children and finds great joy in supporting them and watching them play sports. Her deep roots in Southern Oregon continue to shape her values as a professional and inspire her.
Salem (Chemeketa)
Paula grew up in beautiful Central Oregon. She graduated from Oregon Health Sciences University in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Dental Hygiene and earned her Master of Education degree from Concordia University in 2013. She practiced dental hygiene in Washington and Oregon for over 28 years and has been involved in teaching and administration for 14 years.
Paula has taught a variety of courses including Pain Management, Ethics, Periodontology, Dental Anatomy, Dental Practice Management, Educational Methods, and all levels of clinic. She believes in teaching the importance of giving back to the profession by volunteering and serving others. One way Paula has stayed involved with her profession has been by working as an anesthesia and dental hygiene clinical board examiner in several states.
Paula enjoys spending time with her husband, three grown children and spouses, and grandchildren. She loves to travel, enjoy the outdoors, gardening, and anything arts and crafts related.
Dr. Abigail Rollins grew up in Salem, Oregon. She graduated from at the University of Oregon with a bachelor's degree in English literature in 1981. Returning to her love of science and diagnosis, she studied pre-dental at Western Oregon University. In 1989 she graduated from Oregon Health and Sciences University with her doctorate.
Dr. Rollins enjoyed teaching Chemeketa Community College dental assisting students in her private practice each year. That experience led her to pursue teaching as a second career. After retiring from 27 years of practice, she began as an adjunct clinic instructor in 2017 at Oregon Tech in the Dental Hygiene Program on the Chemeketa campus. In 2020 she became the restorative lead instructor teaching hygiene students the skills needed to practice as Restorative Hygienists.
She is a member of the Academy of General Dentistry and its Oral Medicine Study Club. She is also a member of the American Dental Education Association.
She lives with her husband Rayin Independence and enjoys beekeeping, martial arts, playing the guitar and soap making.