Gayna Swart studied resource biology and biodiversity as an undergraduate at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.  After graduating, she pursued an advanced degree in biology.  Through thesis research on a salt-tolerant, freshwater angiosperm, she developed an interest in statistical analysis and pursued an advanced degree in mathematics, with a focus on applied statistics.  While being employed by a hospital and health insurance company as a statistician, she pursued a third advanced degree in operations research, which emphasizes the use of statistical models to solve real-world problems.  As a visiting faculty member at Trinity College, she teaches an applied statistics and research course (Statistics for Life Sciences) in the Department of Neuroscience.