Emma graduated with a bachelor's degree in anthropology with an emphasis on biological anthropology from the University of Kansas. Her senior honors thesis focused on an mtDNA haplotype study of the possible migrations of Arctic peoples in the Aleutian Islands and its effects on contemporary population distribution. She worked in Dr. Jennifer Raff's Ancient DNA lab at the University of Kansas and previously attended the Slavia Project, Mortuary Archaeology Field School in Giecz, Poland.

In her spare time, Emma enjoys rollerskating, playing the harp, and drawing.