She received her PhD from UT in biochemistry, cellular, and molecular biology in 2001. She has received funding from the Department of Energy Early Career Research Program for “Thylakoid Assembly and Folded Protein Transport” and from the Ohio Plant Biotechnology Consortium Research Initiative for “understanding thylakoid protein transport for improved Ohio crops,” as well as internal funding from the College of Arts and Science Summer Research Grant and the Miami University Committee for Faculty Research for the “Overexpression and Purification of Membrane-Bound Protein Transport Components”. She is a member of the International Society of Photosynthesis Research, American Society of Cell Biology, the American Society of Plant Biologists, and a member of the Midwest-Section American Society of Plant Biologists.