Her research bridges several themes in human-environment and human geography: the social dimension of sustainability; environmental justice and health; and community resilience to environmental and economic stressors. Her recent work has focused on environmental gentrification, the role of vacant land in urban greening efforts, and the impact of environmental justice on urban sustainability planning. She uses GIS and qualitative approaches in her work. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from the Graduate School of Geography at Clark University. Prior to joining the faculty at Temple in 2012, she was an assistant professor of GIScience in the International Development, Community, and Environment Department at Clark University.