She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in 2007 where she studied turbulent reacting flows in ramjet engines. Her current research focuses on renewable energy demonstration projects as well as, fundamental fluid mechanics and reacting systems. She is currently working on projects in wind energy, solar plus storage and atomization. She also works to improve the combustion characteristics of biofuels as well as improve their cost effectiveness. She is published in several journals including Fuel, Renewable Energy, and Propulsion and Power. She is also the recipient of the SCSE Young Teacher Award and the UMD Sustainability Inspiration Award.