While pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Anthropology at University of Oregon, she became fascinated by ice sheets, sea level and the role of climate change in shaping human history. In 2009, she completed her PhD in Antarctic Geomorphology at Boston University. To date, she has been to Antarctica six times, and spent almost a year of her life in a tent on Earth’s coldest continent. She is most interested in climate fluctuations during the past three million years; her primary research focus is the study of glacial advances and the stability of Antarctic permafrost.