She completed a B.Sc. in Environmental Biology at McGill and a Ph.D. at the University of Connecticut. Her research in the area of plant evolution focuses on understanding how new species arise, and what happens when related species interbreed in nature. She also serves as Director of the UBC Herbarium, part of UBC’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum, which is dedicated to documenting and promoting research into the Flora of BC. For the last seven years, she has been a member of COSEWIC, the scientific panel that assesses the status of Canadian Wildlife. Together with colleagues, she has investigated the early performance of Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA), with the aim of identifying factors associated with good outcomes for species, and contributing to discussion on SARA implementation.