Ashley earned degrees from the University of Georgia; her M.S. working under the co-direction of Dr. Poole and Dr. Judy Meyer, and her Ph.D. under the direction of Dr. Poole. She developed conducted field-based biogeochemical research and developed hydro-biogeochemical models describing the uptake of nitrate in river networks and the interactions between surface- and subsurface-water exchange, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and carbon dynamics in expansive course-grained floodplain aquifers. Prior to her position at the University of Connecticut, Ashley was a post-doctoral research associated at Duke University. Ashley's publications resulting from her time in the Fluvial Landscape Lab include: