Naomi completed an undergraduate microbiology degree at the University of Queensland (Australia), and PhD work in planctomycete genome organization at the University of Warwick (UK) and the German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures. Following postdoctoral research in streptomycete genetics at Louisiana State University, she led microbial genome sequencing projects at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), prior to moving to the University of Wyoming.