Emma received her B.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder (CU). She then worked in engineering consulting for four years working on water and wastewater projects in the arid west before returning to CU for graduate research in water treatment. Her Ph.D. research focused on testing and modeling advanced treatment processes for water reuse. Treatment processes she studied included ozone-biofiltration (O3-BAF), ion exchange, and coagulation for removal of effluent organic matter (EfOM) and trace metals. She developed water reuse-specific predictive models for removal of both EfOM and trace metals to optimize advanced treatment performance. She also tested the use of optical sensors for online monitoring of EfOM. In this work, she developed a novel EfOM treatability parameter that can help adjust chemical doses in real time to changing influent water quality. She joined Trussell after completing her Ph.D. in 2026.