Dr. Hilend is an Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management at Colorado State University. Her research is largely focused on illicit behavior spanning international supply networks, including but not limited to various forms of trafficking (e.g., wildlife, human, drugs), challenges surrounding counterfeiting and intellectual property, organizational misconduct and rule-breaking, as well as broader social and environmental sustainability. Dr. Hilend leverages criminological, psychological, and managerial theories to examine the motivations, effects, and responses to illicit behavior in both traditional supply chains and expressly illegal contexts from a range of interdisciplinary and global perspectives.

Prior to joining Colorado State University as an Assistant Professor, she earned dual B.S. degrees in Supply Chain Management as well as Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Colorado State University. Upon graduating, she consulted for a Fortune 500 engineering firm as well as on various governmental projects prior to returning to academia to earn her PhD from Michigan State University, where she was sponsored by a grant from the National Science Foundation focused on detecting and interdicting illicit wildlife trade.