Nowotarski earned a Ph.D. in biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she examined the roles of multiple actin-binding proteins in development using Drosophila and light microscopy in Mark Peifer’s lab. As a postdoc, Nowotarski switched organisms and microscopy—characterizing the microenvironment and ultrastructure of planarian stem cells using electron microscopy in the lab of Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado, Ph.D., at the Stowers Institute. Nowotarski's knowledge of cell, developmental, and regenerative biology along with experience across modes of microscopy allow her to collaborate with researchers to design experiments to answer their research question with the right technology for proteins, cells, tissues, or organisms.