She earned a bachelor's degree in horticultural science from Korea University in South Korea, a master's degree in biological sciences from Shizuoka University in Japan, and a doctorate in horticulture from Pennsylvania State University. Before coming to Purdue, she was a research associate at Cornell University and assistant professor of sustainable ornamental crop production at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Her research focuses on the understanding of the internal and external controls of plant growth and development to improve the performance of horticultural crops in multiple production systems.