She studies how people come to understand and engineer the physical world and how teachers can facilitate that process, as well as equity issues in STEM education. She is Associate Director of the UTeach Natural Sciences teacher certification program and Past President of the American Association of Physics Teachers. She received her BS in Physics from Stanford University in 1980 and her PhD in Physics from the University of Texas at Austin in 1984. She engaged in space science research for 10 years at Southwest Research Institute before becoming increasingly involved in outreach and education. She held a position focused on physics education research at Utah State University before returning to Texas in 2000. She has served on the Advisory Board for PhysTEC (Physics Teacher Education Coalition) and on the Governing Board of the American Institute of Physics.