She received her PhD from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark studying the ecology and evolution of fungal disease in honey bees. After receiving her degree she was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Arizona, focusing her research on the honey bee gut microbiome. Since the fall of 2014 she has been at Rowan University where she is continuing her research on honey bee pathology. She actively includes undergraduate students in her research who also get first hand experience working with bees at the small university apiary. Her lab is investigating bacterial and fungal disease of bees, such as chalkboard and stonebrood from genetic and behavioral perspectives. Her most recent work includes identifying honey bee larval gut microbes and investigating beneficial effects these microbes have on honey bee health and disease resistance.