She earned her MA degree from Louisiana State University and PhD degree from the University of New Orleans, both in Political Science, the latter with a public administration/public policy specialization. Her current applied research includes the examination of local repetitive flood loss data to assist communities in the identification of appropriate mitigation strategies and education and outreach focusing on disaster resilience. She currently serves as principal investigator for the UNO Disaster Resistant University Project. Dr. Farris has published on the subject of building internal capacity for disaster resilience and has presented multiple times on hazard risk reduction and disaster planning. She is also recognized as a Certified Floodplain Manager by the Association of State Floodplain Managers.