Dr. Cole has served as a Councilor for the Division of Chemical Education since 2011 and as an Associate Member of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Women Chemists Committee (WCC) since 2012. Dr. Cole is also an associate editor for the Journal of Chemical Education. She is actively involved in the POGIL (Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) project at a national and international level. Her research focuses on issues related to how students learn chemistry and how that guides the design of instructional materials and teaching strategies as well on efforts related to faculty development and the connection between chemistry education research and the practice of teaching. She and her husband and daughter live in Eastern Iowa.