Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Trisha attended the University of Pittsburgh for her undergraduate degree in Environmental Science and Criminal Psychology. She received her graduate degree in landscape architecture from Chatham University specifically with the goal of working for zoos and aquariums to make habitats and back-of-house areas better for animals.

She has also worked as a floral designer, at the Western PA Conservancy, at a multi-disciplinary architecture firm on projects in Dubai, for the University of Pittsburgh as a career counselor and event planner, at PennDOT, for Allegheny County Economic Development, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Houston Zoo, and the architecture firm TESSERE in their Zoo Studio. In 2023 she moved back to Pittsburgh and in 2025 her childhood dream of working at the Pittsburgh Zoo was realized.