Denise was born and raised in Brazil, where she spent most of her life before moving to Arizona in 2017. Denise received her degree in Civil Engineering in 2015 from the University of São Paulo (EESC-USP), with a special studies certificate in Transportation Engineering. She received a full scholarship from Science Without Borders (Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) to study for one year at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2013. During her undergraduate capstone project and teaching assistantship during her masters, she worked on airport design (airfield and cargo terminals). She also has her master's degree in Transportation Engineering and Planning from the University of São Paulo. Currently, she is a PhD candidate at Arizona State University. For her PhD dissertation, she studies the impacts of attitudes on traveler behaviors, and perceptions towards the future of transportation, such as autonomous vehicles and behavior after the COVID-19 pandemic. Denise passed her FE exam last October 2020 and is looking forward to being a certified EIT in the state’s board of Engineers.

In her spare time, Denise likes cats, ballet, and tap dance.