Her published research focuses on how art education students emerge into the teacher self and the role of reflection in the process of meaning making. Unrath received the NAEA Women’s Caucus Mary J. Rouse Award in 2004, the 2008 Missouri Higher Education Art Educator of the Year, the University of Missouri Provost’s Teaching and Advising Award in 2005, and the 2012 Maxine Christopher Shutz Award for Distinguished Teaching. Her work on the Benton project combined this devotion to the arts and excellence in education techniques.