She earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Davidson College, N.C. (1990), a Ph.D. in Neuroscience (1998) from UCLA, and conducted postdoctoral research on the neurophysiology and neuroimaging of human memory processes, at University of Maryland and at Johns Hopkins University. She is broadly interested in human cognitive processes; her research explores attentional blindness, and student attitudes about technology, mental health, and the impact of activity-based technology tools on course outcomes.