She received her Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology with a minor in Measurement and Statistics from the University of Oklahoma. She is a principal investigator on the Leadership of the Extreme and Dangerous for Innovation Results (LEADIR) dataset examining the leadership and performance of transnational violent extremist organizations. She has published in the areas of leadership, innovation, and violent groups, and she is the Editor of the academic journal Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict: Pathways toward Terrorism and Genocide.