She earned a B.S. of Advertising from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1995 and an M.A. of Communication from University of Illinois at Springfield in 1998 before completing her Ph.D. in Mass Media at Michigan State University in 2007. Students can usually find Professor Trimble teaching Principles of Marketing, Consumer Behavior and Advertising. While known to be a bit picky about grammar, spelling, punctuation, and citation, she also tries to keep her class presentations full of contemporary examples and energy.