Cora is a leader in environmental chemistry with expertise in the fate and transport of pollutants, using state-of-the-science analytical techniques to characterize chemicals, their sources and their fates in the environment. 

She completed her undergraduate and doctoral studies in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto where she studied the atmospheric fate and transport of polyfluorinated compounds. She then took a postdoctoral position at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) where she developed new optical techniques to study trace reactive species that impact air quality, including nitrous acid.