Dr. Pierce received her doctorate in Medical Geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with an academic interest in the relationship between health and migration. She received her B.S. from Syracuse University (journalism) and her M.A in Cultural Geography from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Dr. Pierce began her professional life as a volunteer with the United States Catholic Conference and later served as director of the Refugee Resettlement Program, a USCS affiliate in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1993 she founded International Health and Human Services (IHCS), a walk-in clinic for uninsured refugees and immigrants. Dr. Pierce later served as country director for International Partnership for Human Development in Kigoma, Tanzania, managing a USDA Food for Progress distribution program. In 2010 she served as a Senior Specialist for the Global Disaster Response Division of Habitat for Humanity in Bangkok, Thailand.

Dr. Pierce has worked since 2000 with students in the US and abroad, including the American University of Armenia, Yerevan State University, and the University of Zenica, Bosnia & Herzegovina. Her volunteer history includes annual work for the Burma Medical Association in Mae Sot, Thailand and as a court appointed advocate for displaced children in Yancey County, North Carolina.