Her research interests primarily involve wild birds, including their conservation and social behavior, and she has a strong background in animal behavior and learning theory, an applied background in conservation and a specialization in online teaching. At the UW, she has taught a lab on animal learning as well as courses on animal behavior, statistics, introductory psychology, developmental psychology and the behavioral studies of zoo animals. In 1999, she received the Department of Psychology’s Distinguished Teaching Award and, in 2009, was elected by the undergraduate students as the commencement speaker for the departmental graduation. Ha received her PhD in animal behavior from the University of Washington.