She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine in 2012. Her research interests focus on neighborhood dynamics and crime, more specifically, the spatial and temporal relationship between neighborhood structural characteristics, social inequality and crime and how those factors shape how neighborhoods change over time. She also examines issues related to prisoner reentry and corrections, including offender programming and treatment services, offender supervision, and neighborhood reintegration. She has published in Justice Quarterly, and has produced several research reports and policy papers during her time at the Center for Evidence-Based Corrections at the University of California, Irvine and the Urban Institute.