Heffernan is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. She received her Ph.D. in Mathematics and Science Education from Temple University and has an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a B.S. in Secondary Mathematics Education. She teaches all levels of mathematics courses at Pitt-Greensburg, with a special interest in mathematics for education students. In addition, she supervises Secondary Education Mathematics student teachers. Her research interests center on mathematics identity, guided inquiry-based learning, and interdisciplinary programming for STEM majors.

She is also currently a co-PI on an NSF S-STEM grant project. She was introduced to POGIL when her university administration asked her to investigate teaching methods to help students better understand and succeed in Algebra. After attending a few introductory and writing workshops, she began to design POGIL activities. Since then, she has worked with The POGIL Project to publish the College Algebra: A Guided Inquiry book and implements POGIL regularly in her own classes. She has also served as a classroom tester for math activities seeking POGIL endorsement and serves as a curator for the POGIL Activities Clearinghouse. She also received the 2024 POGIL Early Achievement (PEACH) Award.