Dr. Mulligan obtained her B.Eng. and M. Eng. in chemical engineering and PhD in geoenvironmental engineering from McGill University. She worked for the Biotechnology Research Institute of the National Research Council of Canada and SNC Research Corp. Of SNC Lavalin before joining Concordia University in 1999.

She held a Concordia Research Chair in Geoenvironmental Sustainability (Tier I) and is a full professor in the Dept. of Bldg., Civil and Environmental Engineering and Distinguished Research Professor. She has authored more than 160 refereed papers in various journals, co-authored or edited 11 books, holds 3 patents and has supervised to completion more than 80 graduate students. She is the founder and director of the Concordia Institute of Water, Energy and Sustainable Systems. The Institute trains students in sustainable development practices and performs research in new systems, technologies and solutions for sustainability. She is a Fellow of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) and its past President. She is also a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC), the Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) and was a winner of the John B Sterling Medal of the EIC and the Miroslaw Romanowski Medal of the RSC for environmental contributions.