She earned her Ph. D. in English with emphasis in Rhetoric and Linguistics from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1997. Her dissertation investigated the long term effects on teachers of their participation in a summer institute of a National Writing Project site. She has presented at the conventions of the College Composition and Communication, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the Modern Language Association, in addition to the previous two Writing Across the Curriculum Conferences. She is a faculty member in Women's Studies, a Teacher/Consultant with the Northern Virginia Writing Project, and a member of the GMU chapter of the National Coalition Building