She received Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley, and post-doctoral fellowship from Rice University. She recently won National Science Foundation CAREER Award, Paul L. Busch Award, DuPont Young Professor Award, Hellman Fellowship, Environmental Science & Technology Excellence in Review Award, PopTech Science and Public Leadership Fellowship, and Northrop Grumman Excellence in Teaching Award. Her research areas are microbial processes in natural and engineered systems, applications of molecular and isotopic tools in environmental microbiology, environmental implications and applications of nanomaterials, and biodegradation of emerging water contaminants. Applications of this research are in sustainable treatment of drinking water, groundwater, industrial and municipal wastewater, and recycled and reclaimed water.