Beginning in her teen years, Greenberg became active in a variety of issues through clubs and volunteer projects, such as volunteering at a local aquarium in high school, was a member of an environmental club, fenced, and enjoyed writing poetry. After high school, Greenberg attended
Columbia University. She became interested in anthropology as an undergraduate and began as a women's and gender studies major, with a concentration in anthropology. She joined the feminist movement on campus, the literary review, and the
Reform Jewish community. In her senior year she worked for the
World Federalist Association, a non-governmental organization that collaborates with the United Nations among other organizations to work towards achieving and maintaining peace. She also participated in the Network of East West Women in New York City, a communication network dedicated to aiding the formation of independent women's movements. The summer after her junior year in college, Greenberg spent six weeks as a volunteer at the Volunteer Project Pakrac in
Croatia, which was intended to rebuild infrastructure and social ties in Western Slavonia, which sparked her interest in the former Yugoslavia. Upon completing her volunteering and returning to college, she volunteered for different non-governmental organization, one of which focused on gender and advocacy in the former Yugoslavia. She pursued a career in anthropology because it combined her interests in scholarly work and in living and working abroad. She received her Doctorate in Anthropology from the
University of Chicago in 2007. ==Awards==