Education Researcher, Changemaker, Ashoka Fellow, Speaker, and Author.

My mission is to ensure the world is full of healthy, inclusive schools and lush, sustainable schoolyards. I love working with educators, students, administrators to create inviting spaces that support children's need for social connection and healthy, outdoor play - and I want to help. I hold a PhD in Educational Psychology from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia and an MS in Learning Sciences from Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy. 

My Philosophy

Because children are in school for the majority of their childhood, schools play a critical role in shaping their overall behaviors, mindsets, interactions, and quality of life. Schools are - or should be - much more than sites for 'learning'. Schools are communities that influence social connections, feelings of belonging and caring, beliefs and attitudes, individual and social identities, and the very meaning and quality of childhood - for better or for worse. Ultimately, social patterns take root in childhood and follow children across their lifespans, influencing learning experiences, school engagement, academic success, and overall health and well-being outcomes. And the effects cascade into the larger social and cultural fabric to shape future relational patterns and collective population health. I leverage the perspectives of social neuroscience, equity, school engagement, well-being, educational change, and environmental sustainability. The most important part of my work is ensuring that the voices of the children are heard - we cannot truly understand schools unless we listen, carefully, to the everyday experiences of children.

What's New?

For 2020-2023 I will hold the position as an Executive Member of the Ontario Healthy Schools Coalition.

I've recently been invited to the Royal Society of Canada as a member of the Working Group on Children and Schools. Look for our report in the spring. Check out my article with Tracey Vaillancourt: Our Best Intentions Are Not Working...

Check out my article with Pasi Sahlberg: Why Kids Will Need Recess More Than Ever...

​Have you heard about the newly formed Global Recess Alliance? See what we are up to here.