She is a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and she earned a B.A. in Political Theory & Constitutional Democracy from James Madison College at Michigan State University. She earned an additional degree in Psychology from the College of Social Science at Michigan State University. After several years of graduate work at the University of North Texas, she returned to Michigan State University, where she earned a Ph.D. in Political Science in 2008. Her dissertation, Why Do High Court Judges Join? Joining Behavior and Australia’s Seriatim Tradition, analyzed the effects of institutional tradition on the decisionmaking behavior on Australia’s highest court. Prior to joining the UNLV faculty in 2008, she was a visiting professor at Clark University in Worcester, MA.