She obtained her B.Sc (Hons) in astrophysics from Queen Mary, University of London, followed by a Ph.D. in astronomy from University College London (UCL) in 1998. After postdoctoral appointments at UCL and University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, she came to Mizzou in 2002. She is directly responsible for the expansion of the MU Astronomy program (which includes a minor) and is now the Director of Astronomy at MU.