Dr. Macfarlane served as a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future from March 2010 to January 2012. Dr. Macfarlane worked as a research associate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 2004 to 2006 and 2000 to 2003, and as an associate professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology from 2003 to 2004. She was also a fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs from 1998 to 2000, and a fellow at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation from 1997 to 1998. Dr. Macfarlane began her teaching career in the Department of Geography and Earth Systems Science at GMU. She received a B.Sc. from the University of Rochester and a Ph.D. in Geology from MIT.