She worked for the Governor's Consolidation Study Commission while earning her Ph.D. at the University of Kansas. She teaches and researches urban politics, state and local government, and intergovernmental relations. She is the co-editor of Case Studies in City-County Consolidation and City-County Consolidation: Promises Made, Promises Kept? with Kurt Thurmaier. Her publications also have appeared in Public Administration Review, Public Budgeting and Finance, American Review of Public Administration, Municipal Finance Journal and other journals. Ph.D. University of Kansas.