She earned her BS degree from Roger Williams University, and did undergraduate research investigating bridged ruthenium dimers. She went on to earn her PhD from Michigan State University, working under Jim McCusker using infrared spectroscopy to study the relaxation dynamics of ruthenium polypyridyl complexes. Her postdoc position, in the group of Phil Castellano, involved developing new copper based photosensitizers for solar fuels chemistry and photochemical upconversion applications. Catherine started her faculty position at East Tennessee State University in the fall of 2016, and is currently working to design chromium and zinc based photosensitizers for solar fuels photochemistry.