While attending Stanford University in her undergraduate career, Dr. Ikemoto was a Research Intern with the California Asian American Artists Biographical Directory Project. Dr. Ikemoto was also a research assistant during her first year at Harvard University with the Harvard Art Museum. While at Harvard, Dr. Ikemoto also held positions such as Teaching Fellow and Conservation Assistant with the Straus Center for Conservation at the Harvard Art Museum. During her Ph.D. at Harvard University, Dr. Ikemoto was a Douglass Foundation Fellow with the Smithsonian Institution.

Dr. Ikemoto obtained a postdoctoral fellowship at The Courtauld Institute of Art, where she was for 2 years. Dr. Ikemoto then moved to Vassar College, where she entered as an Andrew W. Mellow Postdoctoral Fellow and transitioned into the Visiting Assistant Professor position. From here, Dr. Ikemoto moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where she took the position of Visual Arts Educator at Kamehameha Schools Kapalama.

Dr. Ikemoto then transitioned to her current organization, the New York Historical Society. Dr. Ikemoto started with the organization as an Associate Curator of American Art, then transitioned to the Curator of American Art, then the Senior Curator of American Art, and finally, her current position as Vice President and Chief Curator.