Emily completed her undergraduate training in chemistry at the University of Canterbury, and her PhD at the University of Cambridge, UK. She returned to New Zealand in 1998 to take up a lectureship at Massey University. In 2005 she was awarded the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry Easterfield medal. In 2006 Emily moved to the University of Canterbury to take up a position in the Chemistry Department. She was awarded the Applied Biosystems Award by the New Zealand Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2008, and in 2010 Emily received a National Teaching Award for Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching. Emily is a principal investigator of the Biomolecular Interaction Centre.