Lantz earned a B.S. with honors in chemistry from Loyola University of Chicago, and a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research focuses on the development, implementation and assessment of active learning strategies in analytical chemistry, particularly in the areas of cases studies, role-playing laboratories and POGIL. Lantz was the PI on the NSF-funded project that produced POGIL material for analytical chemistry: Analytical Chemistry: A Guided Inquiry Approach - Quantitative Analysis Collection, and Analytical Chemistry: A Guided Inquiry Approach - Instrumental Analysis Collection. She is a Project PI on the ELIPSS (elipss.com) project and is the associate dean of curriculum in arts and sciences, as well as a professor of chemistry at Drew University.