Her research and teaching focus on environment and natural resource management challenges, with a particular emphasis on emerging trends in environmental governance including resilience thinking and adaptive management. Her work has been published in numerous journals including the Annals for the Association of American Geographers, Ecology and Society and Environment and Planning A. Prior to academic life, she worked first as a lobbyist and then as an attorney representing environmental organizations in the Intermountain West. She has a degree in law from the University of Idaho.