Ms. Austin is the Project Manager for the Archives of the Impossible at Rice. Prior to beginning this position, she was Executive Director of the John Mack Institute. In the 1990's, she worked with the late Harvard psychiatrist, John E. Mack, M.D. in his research of the "alien abduction" phenomenon, eventually transitioning into the role of his personal assistant. After his accidental death in 2004, she was pivotal in helping Dr. Mack's family close his estate, an effort that involved various projects related to the administration of his archives and personal affairs. In 2022, she began collaborating with Wilson Research Center's Head of Special Collections, Amanda Focke, and Rice University's Dr. Jeff Kripal, to transfer and digitize a major donation of Dr. Mack's phenomenon-related materials to Kripal's Archives of the Impossible (AOTI). In her spare time, Ms. Austin continues to volunteer with the John Mack Institute.

Ms. Austin spends time practicing her Norsk language skills on Zoom calls with her husband who lives above the Arctic Circle in Northern Norway with his children and their four-legged family members. When the AOTI research study is complete, she looks forward to returning home to their family, her sweet but decidedly quirky lap cat, and the breathtaking beauty of Norway right outside their front door.