Kristine E. Larson, Ed.D., is an Assistant Professor of Special Education at Notre Dame of Maryland University in Baltimore. She received her B.A. in Psychology at Loyola University Maryland in 2003 and her M.A. in Teaching Secondary Social Studies from the Johns Hopkins University in 2005. After teaching social studies for seven years at a middle school in Baltimore County, she went on to pursue a doctorate in Special Education and graduated with an Ed.D. from the Johns Hopkins University in 2015. Her passion for coaching teachers in supporting students with challenging behaviors afforded her the opportunity to work as a post-doctoral research fellow with an interdisciplinary group of scholars from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the University of Virginia, and Sheppard Pratt Health System. During this time, she coached teachers in culturally responsive classroom management practices, bullying prevention strategies, and using multi-tiered systems to support safe and affirming school climates. Dr. Larson has published several articles related to these topics (for more information see: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4930-9810).
In addition to her work in the U.S., Dr. Larson has spent a considerable amount of time in India, supporting the Kashi Initiative for Global Citizenship and Education (of which she is a co-founding member), and also at the Govardhan Ecovillage in the Wada Taluka District. There, she took classes and received a certificate in teaching yoga from the Govardhan School of Yoga. More recently, Dr. Larson worked as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri, where she used the knowledge and skills gained from these experiences to support teachers and students in their desire to live balanced and healthy lives. In her current position as an Assistant Professor at Notre Dame of Maryland University, Dr. Larson is teaching courses in special education and conducting research in contemplative practices to support pre-and in-service teachers. Additionally, she is a liaison for professional development school (PDS) partnerships, and is currently the chair of the Teacher Education for Flourishing Collaborative, which seeks to transform the world by promoting flourishing in teacher education, research, and policy.