She received her M.A. from Arizona State University, and Ph. D. from University of Georgia. As a qualitative and mixed-methods research methodologist, her research areas include teacher identity development, teacher emotions and beliefs, and pre-service teacher education. She teaches research methods courses including qualitative research methods, mixed-methods research, and introduction to research methods. Also, she teaches courses that cover areas of motivation, cognition, emotion, and classroom management. She was a consulting editor for the Journal of Educational Research, and is currently serving as an editorial board member for the Contemporary Educational Psychology.