She holds a doctorate in Political Science from Columbia University (2003). Hertel is author of Unexpected Power: Conflict and Change Among Transnational Activists (Cornell 2006) and co-editor with Lanse P. Minkler of Economic Rights: Conceptual, Measurement and Policy Issues (Cambridge 2007). She has published in, among others, Political Science Quarterly, Polity, International Studies Review, Global Governance, Human Rights Review, and Journal of Latin American Studies. Hertel has served as a consultant to foundations, nongovernmental organizations, and United Nations agencies in the United States, Latin America and South Asia.