Emiliana Simon-Thomas, PhD is the Science Director at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. She runs the student research fellowship program, key initiatives like Expanding the Science and Practice of Gratitude, and co-teaches the BerkeleyX MOOC GG101x: The Science of Happiness, which has enrolled over 500,000 people from all over the world, in addition to the forthcoming Science of Happiness at Work Professional Certificate Series on edX.org. She serves as an expert voice on the neuroscience of social connection, as well as empirically-supported approaches to strengthening interpersonal ties - like practicing mindfulness, and boosting empathy, compassion, gratitude, and generosity.
Alongside her academic and popular writing, Emiliana recently co-edited the Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science, a transdisciplinary compendium of articles from world-class researchers. Overall, Emiliana conducts, shares, and applies science that connects well-being to social connection, caregiving, and collaboration within individuals, between people, amongst organizations, and society-wide.