After completing her Bachelor’s at CSU, Sacramento, she worked for a few years at the Department of Fish and Game collecting data from salmonid species in the Sacramento and American Rivers before returning to CSUS to complete a Master’s Degree in Conservation. It was while studying for her Master’s that she discovered a love of teaching and started teaching as a graduate teaching associate in 1998. After completing a research project on the ecology of the western spotted skunk, she received her Master’s degree in 2000 and started working as a part-time faculty member in biology for CSUS, Sacramento City College and Folsom Lake College.