In 2019, she was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for contributions to complex kinetic modeling, particularly for understanding the pathways by which hydrocarbons and polymers undergo pyrolysis.
[1][2] She was a graduate student in chemical engineering at the University of Delaware, where she studied the thermal stability of high performance polymers,[3][4] working in the research group of Unidel Dan Rich Chair in Energy Michael Klein.
Her fellowship allowed her to join Donna Blackmond at Imperial College London, where she investigated asymmetric catalysis and organocatalysts.
In particular, Broadbelt made use of computational chemical methods to explore the asymmetric catalytic reactions that Blackmond worked on experimentally.
[8] Broadbelt was awarded a United States Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office multi-million dollar grant to create highly recyclable plastic.