Emmy is a field geologist and sedimentologist interested in the co-evolution of life, climate, the ocean, and tectonics during the Neoproterozoic and Cambrian. Her research integrates geological mapping, regional stratigraphy, sedimentology, paleontology, isotope geochemistry, and geochronology in field sites that include Mongolia, the southwest USA, Namibia, and South Africa to test hypotheses about mechanistic links between environmental change and evolutionary milestones.