Hansen earned a bachelor of arts in philosophy, and a bachelor of science in physics, at the
University of Nevada, Reno, graduating in 1999. As an undergraduate, she did directed research with Alla Safronova (Shlyaptseva), and she continued at Reno for doctoral research with Safronova, completing her Ph.D. in 2003 with the dissertation
Development and application of L-shell spectroscopic modeling for plasma diagnostics. She was a researcher at the
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 2003 to 2008, when she moved to her present position at Sandia National Laboratories. ==Recognition==