Tanner received their bachelor's degree in Classics from the University of South Carolina in 2021, and completed their MA in Classical Philology, with a concentration in ancient Greek, at the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2024. They are currently pursuing a PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of South Carolina.

Their academic interests are in ancient magic, Hellenistic poetry, Latin love elegy, and classical reception studies.

Tanner's research utilizes a diverse range of evidence from Classical antiquity, including Greek and Latin curse tablets, papyrological text fragments, and historical accounts, to reconstruct the role of ritual magic practitioners and folk healers in ancient societies.