She received her Ph.D. from the University of Akron-Kent State University Joint Ph.D. program in sociology, held a post-doctoral fellowship at the Mary Ingraham Bunting Institute (now Radcliffe Institute of Harvard University) and was a research associate at the Family Research Laboratory. She is a co-creator and evaluator of the Bringing in the Bystander in-person program and social marketing campaign. She is part of a research team that has received funding from the NIJ, DOJ and CDC.