She received her PhD in 1996 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and worked from 1996-1998 as a staff scientist at the Institute for Computer Applications in Science and Engineering at NASA Langley. The common focus of her research efforts in visualization and computer graphics is on the application of insights from visual perception to the development of more effective techniques for communicating information. She enjoys interdisciplinary collaborations with colleagues from a variety of departments on campus including Aerospace Engineering, Architecture, and the Institute for Child Development. She is also a PECASE recipient (1999) and an Associate Editor of the ACM Transactions on Applied Perception.