She holds a Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Georgia Tech, with an emphasis in production, distribution, and material handling and a minor in Environmental Policy. She received an M.S. in Operations Research from Cornell University and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences from Northwestern University. Her primary research applications lie in the areas of sustainable supply chain management and humanitarian relief. She has worked as a project engineer for Rosemount, Inc., the RAND Corporation, and Merck, and has led research projects for LensCrafters, Hudson Specialty Foods, Medtronics, Flow International Corporation, the United Way, and the National Science Foundation. She currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management.