She was awarded an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship to study the metal specificity of dopamine beta-hydroxylase with Professor Joseph Villafranca in the Chemistry Department at Penn State. Professor Bebout joined the William & Mary Chemistry faculty in 1993. The initial focus of her research program was biologically-relevant coordination chemistry of Hg(II). Over time, her research program has expanded to focus on comparative coordination chemistry of divalent zinc triad metal ions with multidentate ligands using a combination of crystallography, nuclear magenetic resonance and mass spectrometry techniques. Her independent research activities have been supported by external funding from the NSF, NIH, Research Corporation, Dreyfus Foundation, PRF and Jeffress Memorial Trust. Her research program has provided professional development opportunities for over 80 BS candidates, as well as seven MS candidates and one postdoctoral fellow. Her current collaborators include: Craig A. Bayse Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Old Dominion Univesity Lisa M. Berreau Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Utah State University Raymond J. Butcher Department of Chemistry, Howard University Robert D. Pike Department of Chemistry, The College of William & Mary John C. Poutsma Department of Chemistry, The College of William & Mary