She was previously the president (2013–2015)[2] of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), which holds the largest broadly multidisciplinary and multicultural STEM diversity conference in the U.S.[3] A pioneer in the genomics of the stationary phase of yeast,[4] she is known for her innovative programs to attract and retain underrepresented minorities in STEM.

[9] Werner-Washburne earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English studying poetry at Stanford University.

[7] After graduation, she traveled extensively throughout Mexico, Central and South America, Alaska, Samoa, and New Zealand.

[17] She has written about the importance of psychosocial mentors in diversifying science and technology[18] and institutional barriers to retaining underrepresented students in STEM.

As a postdoc in Elizabeth Craig's lab, Werner-Washburne was part of a team that discovered that a group of heat-shock proteins were chaperones.

[28] As part of her genomics research, she developed hyperspectral imaging to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of microarrays.