As a designer with degrees in architecture, engineering and urban planning, she is interested in interdisciplinary design approaches that create productive connections between architecture and the urban landscape. Her research and teaching examines how ecological thinking influences architectural theory and practice to drive its aesthetic and performance agendas; and how the grounding of buildings on sites enables adaptation to changing environments. Her current work with colleagues David Fannon and Peter Wiederspahn, titled Future-Use Architecture: Design for Persistent Change, received the 2017 Latrobe Prize of the AIA College of Fellows