She joined the faculty in 2005, following the completion of her Ph.D. in Geography from Clark University. Her research examines changing livelihoods in the rural developing world and the outcomes of those changes on the wellbeing of households, the status of women, and the sustainability of human-environment systems. She holds an M.S. in International Development from Princeton University, has been a Rotary Scholar at the University of Zimbabwe, and has worked in several countries in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa.