Her research interests include the rural Cajun Mardi and other festival traditions, Croatian folklife in south Louisiana, veterinary culture, vernacular healing and belief traditions, civil rights narratives, and Louisiana folk culture in general. Before coming to LSU in 2001, she worked as a public folklorist for many years, directing the Louisiana Folklife Festival and coordinating the Pine Hills Culture Program in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Her publications include two books–Cajun Mardi Gras Masks with Carl Lindahl, and Cajun Women and Mardi Gras: Reading the Rules Backwards–and a number of journal articles. She was editor of the Louisiana Folklore Miscellany from 2008 to 2012, and is a member of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival’s Folklife Village advisory board.