[6] After her graduation, she worked as an agricultural and organic chemist at Rhône-Poulenc, located in the nearby Research Triangle Park.

[7] She also spent the summer of 1993 as a visiting scientist at the Eastman Chemical Company in Kingsport, Tennessee, where she examined the role of catalysts in the color body origin in poly(ester amide)s.[7] After graduating with her Ph.D., Ashby worked as a NSF and NATO Postdoctoral Fellow at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz's Institute for Organic Chemistry in Germany.

[citation needed] Ashby spent August 2003 to June 2004 on sabbatical leave at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the direction of Prof. Robert Langer.

[8] In 2005, Ashby was awarded an NSF grant[9] that aimed to increase the number of underrepresented minorities receiving doctoral degrees in STEM fields.

[12] The search committee that nominated and unanimously supported Ashby consisted of faculty members, students, administrators and trustees.