She received her BS degree in psychology from Marywood College and her MA and PhD from SUNY Binghamton in 1994. She benefited from the small school environment and close faculty student relationships in her undergraduate years and wanted to make that same opportunity available to her students. She has been a Psi Chi and Psych Club coadvisor almost since her arrival at Penn State Erie and has the opportunity to involve many talented students in her own research. She has several research interests, including the psychology of language and the use of mental imagery in visioning and spatial visualization. She enjoys collaborative work and has been fortunate to work with faculty in fields as diverse as business and engineering.