Walker is a Ph.D. candidate working with Professor Jeremi Suri at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received her B.A. from Whitman College in 2000 and received her M.A. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2004. Her research interests include the history of human rights, international history of the Cold War; U.S.-Latin American relations, international activism, the Carter presidency, and the domestic-international nexus in policymaking.