She has a PhD in Plant Breeding and Genetics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her primary area of research is maize functional genomics. Particular areas of interest include identifying and understanding genes for resistance to aflatoxin accumulation, Aspergillus flavus infection, and fall army worm damage in corn. She is a participant in an NSF funded project to produce a physical map in maize. She teaches current topics in genomics and quantitative and population genetics.