She received her Ph.D. in Criminology from the University of Delaware. She is a native Hoosier who is passionate about teaching outside the classroom and has taken students to such places as Washington, D.C., the Indianapolis Women's Prison, the Clark County Jail, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and Chicago. She will be taking students on her first study abroad during summer 2018, spending a total of 18 days in Rome, Italy and Dublin, Ireland. Her primary research focus is jury decision making and jury reform. However, she has also conducted research on community policing, the Chicago drug courts, and the changing marijuana laws.