She obtained her Ph.D. from Duke University (USA) under the direction of Prof. R. Widenhoefer in 2004. She completed postdoctoral research in the group of Prof. T. B. Gunnoe at North Carolina University (USA) from 2004 to 2006 and a sabbatical project with the group at the University of Virginia (USA) in 2012. In 2006 she started her independent career at Rollins College. Her research with undergraduates utilizes metal-NHC complexes as catalysts for organic transformations. She was awarded the endowed D.J. and J.M. Cram Chair of Chemistry in 2014 and currently serves as chair of the Department of Chemistry at Rollins College.