Moodey was a secretary and scientific aide in the Department of Geology at the National Museum in Washington, D.C. She classified, catalogued, and maintained the museum's geological and
paleontological holdings. She also assisted with exhibitions, and wrote reports. She and
Edgar T. Wherry were assistant authors of
George Perkins Merrill's
Handbook and Descriptive Catalogue of the Collections of Gems and Precious Stones in the United States National Museum (1922). In the 1920s, she was in charge of a large collection of American gemstone samples; "she has had the entire responsibility and care of the collection of cut gems," explained the museum's annual report in 1924, "and in connection with this has been called upon to answer numerous inquiries and furnish information on gems and gem minerals." Moodey resigned from the Museum in 1941, when she was almost 80 years old. As a "fitting finale to her Museum endeavors", she was co-author with
Ray S. Bassler of
Bibliographic and Faunal Index of Paleozoic Pelmatozoan Echinoderms (1943)
. She also co-authored a biography of George P. Merrill, with
Waldemar Lindgren. == Personal life ==