She grew up in Rhode Island. She completed her B.A. in French at Amherst College in 2002. After teaching in Belgium for a year after graduating, she decided to continue her education in Animal Science, an area that she was always interested in but had not pursued as an undergraduate. She received her M.S. at the University of Rhode Island in 2006 studying behavior and welfare of captive zoo species. She completed her Ph.D. at Colorado State University in 2009 focusing on understanding and minimizing pre-slaughter stress of swine. At KSU, Dr. Edwards conducts research, advises students and teaches courses in animal behavior, welfare and ethical issues in agriculture.