Thanicha is a data scientist specializing in quantitative, text, and geospatial data retrieval, analysis, and triangulation. 

Before joining the IEO, she led the Sustainability Analytics research group in the University of Maryland's First-Year Innovation and Research Experience program.

In this role, she developed methods to train undergraduate students in data science and applied economics from the ground up. As a researcher, Thanicha pioneered the application of HYSPLIT—an air pollution dispersion model—to identify demographic groups affected by point-source air pollution within the field of environmental economics.

She holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where her research examined the unintended consequences of air pollution regulation in California, fisheries regulation in Washington State, and fuel subsidies in Thailand.