She has a Master of Public Management from the University of Alberta and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. Before embarking on a research career in 2003 she worked for over twenty-five years for the Alberta and Northwest Territories governments, providing policy advice and directing income support, social services, apprenticeship, training, and employment programs. She has published on federalism and social policy in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, focusing primarily on unemployment insurance, social assistance, and the public employment service and how these programs are managed across governments. Her first book Federalism in Action: The Devolution of Canada’s Public Employment Service 1995-2015 was published by the University of Toronto Press in May 2018.