She received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2000; her dissertation, "Ethnic Places, Gendered Spaces: The Expressive Constitution of Yaqui Identities," focuses on Yaqui women's expressive culture and the production of self-identity. She is currently working on a manuscript that examines the intersection of memory, culture, and place in everyday narrative. Her research interests include gender theory, performance, verbal art, Native American social histories, and the politics of representation in northern Mexico.