She is a Doctoral-level, Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and licensed by the Virginia Board of Medicine. She also holds a K-12 Virginia teaching license in special education. Her previous work as a special educator has shaped her research, teaching, and service in the field of education. She was the recipeint of the Online Course Excellence Award (2016), nominated for GMU's Teaching Excellence award (2016), and featured in Mason News for socially relevant work (see https://cehd.gmu.edu/news/stories/education-videos-for-sierra-leone-students).