A native of Dallas, TX, Kristen graduated Magna Cum Laude in Pure Mathematics at the University of Padova in Italy. She received her doctorate in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence with a dissertation that she developed at NASA Ames in the context of the planners of the first two Mars Rovers, Spirit, and Opportunity.

Kristen continued her career in research in Artificial Intelligence and is now a senior research scientist at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) where she serves as director of the IHMC-UWF PhD program in Intelligent Systems and Robotics. She is also professor of computer science at University of West Florida.

She is very active in supporting and championing women in computer science and research in general. Kristen is the co-author of two books, and has published over 100 scientific papers including journal and conference publications in the most prestigious AI venues.

Kristen loves living in Dallas with her two children Robert (12), Jasmine (6) and her husband Jeffery Bradley.