When discussing how she became interested in engineering, Bond noted, "I was poor and had a car that broke, and I had to fix it. It was frustrating but satisfying." In the late 1980s, she apprenticed in an auto body shop and became curious about how cars were made.  She wanted to know about their design, not just to fix automobiles but to improve them.  These experiences and others eventually led her to engineering
According to the MacArthur Foundation, Bond's laboratory and field research into quantifying the sources and effects of black carbon, as well as its optical and physical properties in the atmosphere, have provided the most comprehensive data on this pollutant and its effects as of 2014.  Bond has expressed a specific interest in having her research bring a difference to the practical lives of individuals.
In 2003, Bond joined the faculty at department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois. She then became an affiliate professor in Atmospheric Sciences in 2007. In 2014, Bond was named a Nathan M. Newmark Distinguished Professor. 
Bond joined the Colorado State University's department of Mechanical Engineering in 2019 as the Walter Scott, Jr. Presidential Chair in Energy, Environment and Health.