Dr. Garcia graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2004 with a Ph.D. in Nursing. Prior to this, she earned three Master’s degrees (Public Health Nursing, Maternal and Child Health, and Occupational and Environmental Health). Dr. Garcia’s research interests address stress and coping, Latino adolescent mental health promotion, and innovative data collection methods, including ecological momentary assessments via text messaging. She received the Adolescent Research Section Nurse Investigator Research Award in 2010. Dr. Garcia has been a McNair Scholar’s faculty mentor two years.