After receiving Chemical Engineering degrees from the Missouri University of Science and Technology (B.S.) and University of Wisconsin-Madison (Ph.D.), she pursued a postdoctoral position in engineering education and outreach with the Interdisciplinary Education Group of the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at UW-Madison. Prior to moving to Syracuse, she taught for several years at Madison Area Technical College. Her interests include development of engineering faculty attitudes and pedagogy, teaching professional skills in the engineering classroom, and engineering outreach at the K-12 level.