Doctor Marian ‘Marnie’ Reven is an energetic researcher, scholar, and teacher engaged in bridging the gap between traditional and nontraditional medicine and health care.

Like many who enjoy essential oils and aromatherapy, Marnie was introduced to essential oils through her family and began to discover the many benefits of use—reduction in pain, improved rest and sleep, and better mood just to name a few. This led to the desire to see others use essential oils but along the way, the need for more education became apparent. Questions were popping up such as “why does this work?”, “how much is too much?”, and “how can I responsibly keep using these if there is only so much plant material on the planet?” These questions led to the search for education and ultimately investment in education, certification, and registration in the United States. With this foundation, Marnie’s mission is to see aromatherapy and essential oils take their place in integrative healthcare.

Aromatherapy is a passion and serious endeavor. Marnie has invested in advanced aromatic education as well as successfully completing her PhD this spring at West Virginia University. Her dissertation entitled, Using aromatherapy for comfort, ease, and stress for adults being treated for substance use disorder in north central Appalachia: A randomized controlled trial is complete and adds to the body of knowledge needed for evidence-informed aromatic practice in healthcare.

Marnie is founder and president of the Aromatic Research Quality Appraisal Taskforce (ARQAT). She and her colleagues are dedicated to seeing the quality and application of aromatic research improve through the creation of the TREATS (Transparent Reporting for Essential oil and Aroma Therapeutic Studies) checklist, and with input from aromatic specialists around the world, future creation of a reporting guideline.

Dr. Marnie has an extensive background in healthcare, nursing, and education. With over 33 years of active practice, she has supported health and healing in settings from intensive to palliative and hospice care. Marnie earned her master’s in nursing with a focus in education from Walden University and her Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing from West Virginia University. She holds advanced certification in holistic nursing through the American Holistic Nurses Association (AHN-BC) and is a Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) through the National League for Nursing (NLN). Marnie earned her certification and advanced certification in Aromatherapy from Aromahead. Marnie has been a Registered Aromatherapist (RA™) through the Aromatherapy Registration Council (ARC) for over five years.

More recently, Marnie has taken on the role of researcher. Her pre-doctoral study in 2019, West Virginia University infusion center nurses don aromatherapy patches* was well received and led to further opportunities. Through her current doctoral work, leadership of the ARQAT, and service on various aromatherapy and integrative modality boards and committees, Marnie is working to support a bright future of quality aromatic research.

* Reven, M., Humphrey-Rowan, J., & Moore, N. (2020). West Virginia University oncology nurses don aromatherapy patches: A pilot feasibility study. The International Journal of Professional Holistic Aromatherapy, 8(4), 7–15.