She received her BA from Marshall University and her MA and PhD from Loyola University Chicago. Her research focuses on social issues with an eye towards interventions that ignite positive societal change. In particular, she investigates prejudice from both the target’s and perpetrator’s perspective. She also applies insights from the intergroup relations literature to other social problems, such as environmental, educational, and health concerns. As a teacher, she incorporates evidence-based social justice pedagogy into her classroom. She is a former chair of SPSSI’s Graduate Student Committee and editorial board member for the Journal of Social Issues. She is currently the co-chair of SPSSI at APA 2018 programming.