Work with thought leaders and academic experts in cognition

Dr. Olson is a highly skilled and experienced behavioral neuroscience researcher with expertise in kinesiology, nutrition, meditation, mental health, cognition, and brain function. He received his Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences from Rutgers University in 2016 where he primarily studied the influence of exercise and meditation on depression, cognition, and brain health. Prior to that, he completed his Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology & Health Promotion from the University of Wyoming in 2010 where he focused on the effects of exercise on stress reactivity and autonomic function. Throughout his career, he has conducted extensive research utilizing psychophysiological techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG) to assess event-related potentials (ERP) and electrocardiography to measure heart rate variability (HRV) and pre-ejection period (PEP). Additionally, Dr. Olson is trained in mental health screenings, surveys and questionnaires, IQ testing, cognitive testing, exercise testing and prescription, meditation, metabolic/maximal fitness testing, signal processing, accelerometry, ecological momentary assessment, and data analysis. Common study designs he uses include reviews, meta-analysis, cross sectional, acute/chronic experimental, feasibility, and randomized-controlled trials. Dr. Olson is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology, Health Promotion, and Recreation with a dual-appointment within the Department of Psychology at the University of North Texas. He established the UNT Sport and Exercise Psychophysiology Lab in 2016 where he currently serves as Lab Director.

Dr. Ryan Howell is an Associate Professor at San Francisco State University. His research interests include the psychology of goals and how people pursue and achieve them. Dr. Howell received his PhD in Social/Personality Psychology from the University of California, Riverside in 2005.

James C. Kaufman is a Professor of Educational Psychology at the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. He has written or edited more than 50 books. These include: the recently published *The Creativity Advantage* (Cambridge); the forthcoming *Lessons in Creativity from Musical Theatre Characters* (with Dana P. Rowe; Routledge); two editions of *Cambridge Handbook of Creativity* (with Robert J. Sternberg) and five other Cambridge Handbooks; two editions of *Creativity 101* (Springer); and a book on terrible baseball pitchers with his father and a book on pseudoscience with his wife. James has developed many theories, most notably the Four C’s (with Ron Beghetto). He has developed several self-report measures of creativity and is currently focusing on positive outcomes of creativity. James has won many awards, including Mensa’s research award, the Torrance Award from the National Association for Gifted Children, the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children’s International Creativity Award, and APA’s Berlyne, Arnheim, and Farnsworth awards. He co-founded two major journals, *Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts* and *Psychology of Popular Media Culture* and is the current Senior Associate Editor for *Creativity Research Journal*. He has tested Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s creativity on CNN; written the book and lyrics to the musical *Discovering Magenta* (which played NYC and has a cast album); and appeared onscreen, complete with white lab coat, in the comic book documentary *Independents*.

Ariel D. Kalil is the Daniel Levin Professor of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago. She is a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a research associate at the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan. She is also a faculty member in the Harris School of Public Policy Studies and in the College at the University of Chicago. Kalil's research lies at the intersection of child development and public policy. She is particularly interested in the effect of early childhood interventions on health and economic outcomes in adulthood. Her work has been published in leading social science journals, including the American Economic Review, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and the Journal of Political Economy. Kalil earned her PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor in 1996, her MA in Social Psychology from the University of Colorado System in 1993, and her BA in Psychology and French Literature from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1991.

Initially trained as a Cognitive Psychologist with expertise on conscious versus unconscious influences on performance, Steve has more recently become a strong proponent of preventative mental health efforts. During the pandemic Steve created a free online course at Coursera.org entitled Understanding and Managing the Anxiety of COVID 19, a course that has over 180,000 registered students. That lead him to then created more specialized courses, one supporting Police Officers and another supporting Health Care Workers, providing each with a better understanding of the stressors associated with their chosen work, and giving them tips and strategies for managing their mental health. Since then Steve has become a common media commentator around preventative mental health, and has begun supporting both not for profits (The GenWell Initiative) and commercial entities (OOt Social) to bring mental health support to corporations, students, and the general public.

Christian Waugh, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology at Wake Forest University, NC, is an expert in the study of stress resilience, emotions, and effective coping habits. His research features resilience as the result of stress, trauma, and the ability to experience positive emotions in times of stress. Dr. Waugh has been twice honored for teaching excellence at Wake Forest, is a professional speaker, and has published several dozen scientific articles.

Dr. Aminda O’Hare is the Director of Neuroscience and an associate professor of Psychological Science at Weber State University in Ogden, UT. She specializes in teaching topics in affective and cognitive neuroscience both in the classroom and in her research lab. The CAPES Lab (Cognitive and Affective Psychophysiology and Experimental Science Lab) is particularly interested in how training in mindfulness practices alters emotion-cognition interactions in the brain. Aminda is an advocate for incorporating practices of wellbeing and healthy habits of mind into higher education for all participants in campus communities (i.e., students, staff, faculty). Aminda loves the outdoors, being in the mountains, spending time with her husband, and being with her dogs and cats.

I am social psychologist with expertise in social perception, behavior, quantitative research methods, and statistical analyses

Cognition, Learning Theory, Comparative Cognition, Psychobiology, Marine Mammals, Animal Behavior