She seeks to advance understanding of fundamental geodynamic processes, such as volcanism, mountain building, continental rifting, and craton formation, by emphasizing earthquake seismology, active tectonics, and the analysis of seismic data. She is currently evaluating tectonic models for Antarctica and is the lead investigator for the TAMNNET project, which deployed 15 seismic stations across the northern Transantarctic Mountains. She has an NSF CAREER award for Antarctic seismology, and she has worked in collaboration with the Korean and Italian Antarctic research programs. She has a PhD in Geology and Geophysics from the University of California, Santa Cruz.