Her research and teaching interests include the archaeology of laboring communities, social theories of power relations, and collaborative archaeology with American Indian communities. She earned her B.A. in Archaeology from Mount Holyoke College, her M.S. in Industrial Archaeology from Michigan Technological University, and her Ph.D. in Anthropology from University of Arizona. In 2016, she received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from President Obama.