She received her Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her dissertation Acquiring Spanish at the Interfaces: The L2 Acquisition of Psych-Verbs discusses the acquisition of psychological predicates (gustar 'to like,' preocupar 'to worry') in the context of the Interface Hypothesis; that is, as it relates to the issue of interface vulnerability in L2 acquisition. Her research interests focus on formal approaches to second language acquisition. In particular, her current research deals with residual optionality at the near-native level of proficiency, both at the syntax-semantics and syntax-pragmatics interface.