Americo N. Amorim, Ed.D.

Briana is a PhD student at Johns Hopkins School of Education. Her work explores the ways in which early childhood educators’ well-being and perceptions of their work environment are related to children’s social, emotional, and behavioral development. She is also interested in how perception of collaborative support in the workplace is related to teachers’ job demands, resources, and geographic context. Briana earned a BA in Economics and Anthropology from Washington University in St. Louis, as well as a MS in Education with a concentration in Early Childhood Education from Dominican University. Prior to coming to Hopkins, she was a preschool teacher. She was also a Leadership for Educational Equity Fellow for the Office of Social and Emotional Learning at Chicago Public Schools. 

Research Interests: Teacher well-being; social-emotional; workplace perceptions 

Fun Fact: I buy a new plant every time I accomplish something “big”.  

Sooyeon, or “Soo”, is a PhD student at Johns Hopkins School of Education. Along with her work in WELLab, she also works as a reviewer in the Center for Research and Reform in Education, conducting meta-analytic reviews in diverse educational topics. Her research focuses on the protective factors for children’s positive social and emotional development in early care and education settings, with particular interests in understanding the role of interventions promoting children’s and teachers’ social and emotional competencies and well-being. Previously, she served as an evaluation consultant for a nationwide civic education program. She is also a founding director of an educational nonprofit organization in South Korea. She holds two master's degrees, one in Child Development from Tufts University, and another in Education from Harvard University.  

Research Interests: early care and education, teacher well-being, social and emotional learning, meta-analysis 

Fun Fact: I am a semi-professional keyboardist who enjoys playing and writing music.  

Jodi is a PhD student at Johns Hopkins in the School of Education. She studies how stress affects the brains and bodies of students. Her work specifically focuses on how we measure stress, how stress is related to academic achievement, and the extent to which aspects of schools can buffer against these effects. She is also the creator of WellCheq, a web-based app designed to allow schools to track student wellbeing. Jodi is also interested in how teacher wellbeing is related to student outcomes in the P-12 setting. She earned her BA in the Biological Basis of Behavior and her MSEds in Education Policy and Secondary Education from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to arriving at JHU, Jodi taught high school biology and anatomy in Philadelphia, which she loved. She is passionate about working with students and teachers to improve outcomes for all.  

Research Interests: stress, student wellbeing, school climate, teacher wellbeing 

Fun Fact: I really love playing and watching football. 

Ebony is a PhD student at the Johns Hopkins School of Education. Her research interests center around the creation and implementation of education policies and interventions in early childhood and beyond. Ebony also seeks to investigate how children’s social emotional development is impacted by trauma and stress related to racism and poverty, how teachers and parents can support children in navigating their social emotional learning, and how social emotional learning paired with equitable practices can maximize young children’s school readiness/success. Ebony earned a MS in Human Development and Family Studies from UNC Greensboro, and a BA in Psychology from North Carolina State University. She comes to JHU SOE with both applied and research experiences serving children, families, and educators such as through the U.S. Department of Defense, North Carolina Public Schools, and UNC Chapel Hill.  

Research Interests: education policy, equity, social emotional development, teacher/parent practices and socialization  

Fun Fact: Growing up, my family and I moved within and across states a total of over 9 times.  

Nancy is an EdD candidate (with specialization in Mind, Brain, and Teaching) at Johns Hopkins School of Education.  Her dissertation explores the relationships between early childhood educators’ emotional well-being, emotion responsiveness, and sense of efficacy when facing challenging behaviors in the classroom.  She is also interested in expanding her knowledge and experiences in the field of special education to better understand ways of improving teaching and learning for neurodiverse individuals in the global context, particularly in Asian countries and in Hong Kong where she was born. Nancy earned a B.A. in Psychology and Social Behavior from University of California Irvine, as well as an Ed.S. in School Psychology and M.A. in Educational Psychology from Chapman University.  She is also a Nationally Certified School Psychologist and a Licensed Educational Psychologist. She has spent over 15 years in the education sector, including working as a tutor/mentor for children who qualified for supplemental educational services and a behavior interventionist for children and youth with developmental disabilities. Nancy currently works as a school psychologist for the preschool-age population at a public k-12 school district in Southern California. 

Research Interests: early childhood special education, social-emotional competencies, teacher well-being and efficacy 

Fun Fact: I love to travel (pre-pandemic), play poker, and try out lattes at new coffee shops (matcha latte with espresso is my new obsession)