She holds a joint appointment with the Global Urban Studies Program (GUSP) and is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography. She graduated in 2009 from MIT with a Ph.D. in Urban Planning (Department of Urban Planning and Studies) and a S.M. in Transportation (Civil and Environmental Engineering). She also received her degree (Diplom-Ingenieur) from the Universität Karlsruhe (TH) in Business Engineering. In her dissertation (2009, Massachusetts Institute of Technology), she explored the urban change process cities undergo when hosting the Olympic Games through four case studies: Barcelona, Atlanta, Athens and Sydney.