She has an MS Degree in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development from the University of Maryland. Her thesis addressed habitat management for a rare bird species, the endangered Kirtland’s warbler. She has a PhD in Ecological Genetics from Florida State University, where her dissertation addressed understanding the maintenance of a rare genetic color morph in a common fish species, the mosquitofish. She completed post-doctoral work in Evolutionary Genetics at UC Davis on animal color patterns and at University of Virginia on structured plant populations. She has an ongoing interest in the importance of color patterns, and rarity, in nature.