Hilary joined the Caylor Lab after getting her BA(s) in Environmental Sciences & Environmental Thought and Practice at the University of Virginia in 2013. Her undergraduate thesis examined the response of riverine ecosystem productivity to changes in temperature and hydrologic flow regime.

Hilary did her thesis field work at Mpala during the summer 2014, where she looked at different aspects of plant physiology along a water availability gradient. Her thesis, titled _An ecohydrological characterization of two African savanna trees under water stress, _explored the response of stomata opening to different environmental conditions, including light intensity and soil moisture.

She graduated in spring 2015 and is now working for the environmental consulting firm Ramboll-Environ.