Emily is a Masters of Public Administration candidate in the online program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where her research focuses on regional economic development in rural and low-income areas and food systems. She has worked in the local government and nonprofit fields for over ten years, and graduated from Western Carolina University with a Special Studies degree in political philosophy, economics, and political science in 2012. She lives with her husband and daughter in the mountains of Western North Carolina and enjoys pro football, gardening, cooking, and hiking.