Before graduate school, Chelsea worked in SNAP-Ed at the Florida Department of Health and served with FoodCorps at the Garden School Foundation in Los Angeles, where she taught children about food and nutrition through school garden programs. She is especially interested in how school meal programs and federal nutrition policies can advance health equity, reduce food insecurity, and address diet-related health disparities. 

Chelsea is based in Los Angeles, CA, where she enjoys cooking traditional Lao dishes, baking cakes, gardening, and spending as much time as possible at the beach with her husband.