Professor Salyer teaches a range of courses in modern U.S. history at UNH, including Modern U.S., 1900-1945; Law in American Life; International Law and Human Rights; and Global Migrations. Her research focuses on the history of immigration and citizenship policies in the 19th and 20th centuries. She is able to speak to the media about immigration history, immigration and citizenship policies, birthright citizenship controversy, the Chinese exclusion act, Japanese American internment, and Irish American history.

Her books include "Laws Harsh as Tigers: Chinese Immigrants and the Shaping of Modern Immigration Law" (1995), and "Under the Starry Flag: How a Band of Irish Americans Joined the Fenian Revolt and Sparked a Crisis in Citizenship" (coming in fall  2018).

Recent interviews and media appearances include: guest speaker on the podcast, "Constitutional," Washington Post; "Immigration policy: Lessons from the Past," for “Your Call” (KALW in San Francisco);  and an interview for the article, “Donald Trump, meet Wong Kim Ark, the Chinese American cook who is the father of ‘birthright citizenship,” by Fred Barbash, Washington Post, Aug. 31, 2015.

Professor Salyer earned her doctorate from the Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program at Boalt Law School, University of California at Berkeley, in 1989.