She received her B.A in Biological Sciences and Spanish from Cornell University (2001), and completed her M.A. (2008) and Ph.D. in Sociology from Duke University in 2012. She is also Director of the USF in Brazil Program and organized the inaugural USF in Brazil program in Salvador in summer 2013. She lived in Brazil for over a year conducting research and is currently working on a book based on her research entitled, Home is Where the Hurt Is: Racial Stigma and Socialization in Afro-Brazilian Families. Her research interests include race &amp; ethnicity, social psychology, gender, beauty/aesthetics, and socialization.