Danielle is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in the Land Use Planning, Management, and Design program at Texas Tech University. Her research focuses on strengthening adaptive capacity in communities to improve local and regional resilience. She is also interested in understanding how unincorporated communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from disaster and how local planning and regulation can increase resilience to disaster. She holds a B.A. in Psychology, an M.B.A., an M.A. in Landscape Architecture, and a J.D., all from Texas Tech University.

While pursuing her Ph.D., she has served as a research assistant for the Produced Water Consortium and a Graduate Part-Time Instructor in the Department of Landscape Architecture, teaching both undergraduate and graduate students. Her previous research focused on urban resilience, including integration of ecosystem services into local law and policy and greening of urban spaces with native species. In line with her interests of local land planning and policy, Danielle also currently serves on the Zoning Board of Adjustment for the City of Lubbock and as the Secretary for the Northwest Section of the Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association.