Conference Presenter Bios

Gina M. Biegel, MA, LMFT is a psychotherapist who teaches Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) to adolescents in multiple settings. She adapted the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program typically for adults for an adolescent population.  She has conducted a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) assessing the efficacy of this program with adolescents with very significant results this journal article is currently in press with the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (JCCP).  She conducts workshops and conferences on MBSR training with a variety of populations including mental health and health professionals, teachers, parents, and teens.  A more recent area of work is in bringing mindfulness into the Oakland, California Elementary School system through her role as the Director of Research for Mindful Schools and is assessing the effectiveness of such a program.  Lastly, her first book, a workbook, entitled, The Stress Reduction Workbook for Teens: Mindfulness Skills to Help You Deal With Stress, is coming to stores January 2010.

Richard Brady is a writer, an educational consultant and founder of Minding Your Life (www.mindingyourlife.net).  Richard's publications include: Tuning In: Mindfulness in Teaching and Learning, McHenry and Brady, eds., 2009, Friends Council on Education, Philadelphia, "Learning to Stop, Stopping to Learn:  Discovering the Contemplative Dimension in Education," Journal of Transformative Education, 5, no.4, (2007): 372-394, and "Schooled in the Moment: Introducing Mindfulness to Students and Teachers," Independent School. 64, no. 1, (2004): 82-87.  Richard taught high school mathematics at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC for 34 years before retiring in 2007.  He can be reached by e-mail at mindfulnesseducation [at] rcn.com.

Megan Cowan is co-founder and co-director of Mindful Schools, along with Laurie Grossman and Richard Shankman. Practicing mindfulness since 1996 and teaching children mindfulness in various settings for more than ten years, Megan is delighted to be part of the growth of mindfulness in education.  

Margaret Cullen is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Teacher, having trained extensively with Jon Kabat-Zinn. She has also trained with Zindel Segal in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and in MB Eat with Jean Kristeller. For fifteen years she has been teaching and pioneering mindfulness programs in a variety of settings including cancer support, HIV support, physician groups, executive groups and Kaiser patients. For six years she has been involved in teaching and writing curricula for several research programs at UCSF including "Cultivating Emotional Balance" designed for teachers and "Craving and Lifestyle Management with Meditation" for overweight women. In 2008 she launched a mindfulness-based emotional balance program for teachers and school administrators in Denver and Vancouver, B.C.

Lesley Grant has mentored teachers and graduate students during the past 15 years and taught children for 26 years. She is the director of Marin Mindfulness, a program for educators, parents and children in Marin County California. She is currently combining Waldorf-inspired educational methods with parents’ and children’s mindfulness practice in weekday morning, afternoon, and evening programs in Marin and mentors teacher in this method. She holds a California early childhood director’s certification and graduated from CIIS with a thesis in East/ West psychology education.  Her background includes developing a mindfulness-based somatic therapy program for adults and children in a neurology clinic from 1984- 1996 in the East Bay.

Susan Kaiser Greenland, J.D. teaches mindful awareness to children and families, as well as educators, parents, therapists and health care professionals.  In 2001, Susan co-founded the Inner Kids Foundation in Los Angeles. Susan is a member of the clinical team of the Pediatric Pain Clinic at UCLA’s Mattel’s Children’s Hospital, Co-Investigator on a multi-year, multi-site research study at UCLA’s Semel Institute on the impact of mindfulness in education, and Collaborator on a mindful eating research study at University of California, San Francisco.  She speaks at universities, medical centers and professional programs around the world and consults with various organizations on teaching mindful awareness in an age-appropriate and secular manner. Susan’s upcoming book “The Mindful Child” will be published by Free Press in 2010. 

Alfred W. Kaszniak, Ph.D. is head of the department of Psychology and a professor in the departments of Psychology, Neurology, and Psychiatry at the University of Arizona. His research has focused on the neuropsychology of age-related neurological disorders, memory self-monitoring, the biological bases of emotion, and emotion response and regulation in long-term meditators.

Wynne Kinder, BA, has 17 years of teaching in private and inner-city public schools.  She is a lead instructor and a partner in managing Kinder Associates LLC and Wellness Works in Schools ™.  She has been directly involved in this program for six years.  Her particular focuses are behavior guidance, classroom teaching, teacher training, curriculum development, and program scheduling.  She has studied meditation and yoga for more than 13 years and is trained in Mindful Yoga, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Boys Town: Teaching Social Skills to Youth, YogaEd and Social Action Teacher Training through the Lineage Project.  Wynne is a PA certified teacher (K-8) with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Alma College (MI). 

Dave Mochel is the chair of the Human Development Department at Cate School in Carpinteria, California.  Cate is a coed college prep boarding school of 280 students. Dave has his master's degree in Humanistic Education and has completed a clinical internship in Jon Kabat-Zinn's Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.  Dave currently teaches courses in well-being practices, meditation, the science of happiness, cognitive neuroscience and environmental science.  During his twenty two years as a teacher and coach, Dave has focused on the practices that have the greatest impact upon overall wellbeing - these practices are all built upon the foundation of awareness, acceptance, and kindness.  

George T. Mumford is a Sports Psychology Consultant, Personal and Organizational Development Consultant, Executive Coach and an Insight Meditation Teacher. As a Sports Psychology Consultant, he has worked with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Chicago Bulls, as part of Phil Jackson’s support staff. George is currently working with Boston College Men’s and Women’s Basketball; Ohio University Athletic Department; University of Minnesota Women’s Basketball; and a Premiership Football (Soccer) Club. While working at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester Massachusetts, Department of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine, Stress Reduction Clinic, He developed and implemented Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Programs for an Inner-city “Satellite” Clinic and several Massachusetts Correctional Institution Facilities.  

Robert W. Roeser is an Associate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon; and the Senior Education Coordinator for the Mind and Life Institute in Boulder, Colorado. He received his Ph.D. from the Combined Program in Education and Psychology at the University of Michigan, and holds master’s degrees in religion and psychology, developmental psychology and clinical social work. Dr. Roeser’s primary research focuses on how schools, as central cultural contexts of development, socialize aspects of teachers’ professional identities and work motivation, teaching practices and well-being; as well as aspects of adolescents’ psychosocial identities and academic motivation, achievement and well-being over time. Currently, Dr. Roeser has established the Culture and Contemplation in Education Laboratory (CaCiEL) at Portland State University to study the feasibility and effectiveness of introducing contemplative practices like yoga and mindfulness into education.

Betsy Rose brings songs of mindfulness and presence to schools, conferences, gatherings for families, and concerts. She is part of the Mindfulness in Education program in Oakland, CA. She is a music specialist  at Cornell School in Albany, CA, and a frequent presenter at regional and national Early Childhood Education conferences. Betsy offers trainings for teachers in using music to enhance classroom stability, cohesion, cultural inclusion, and mindfulness. Betsy’s most recent recording, Calm Down Boogie features songs from her mindfulness work with families,  teachers and children, and celebrates the  joys of simple living, homespun happiness, earth care and family bonds.

Amy Saltzman M.D. is a holistic physician, mindfulness teacher, wife and mother. She has been teaching mindfulness for over 14 years. She is the founder and director of the Association for Mindfulness in Education. Her passion is supporting  children and adults in discovering the Still Quiet Place within. She has two research studies through the Stanford Department of Psychology: evaluating the benefits of teaching mindfulness to child-parent pairs and to children in elementary school. Dr. Saltzman offers lectures and courses for schools, parenting organizations, and education and medical conferences. She also provides individual mindfulness instruction and holistic medical care to children and adults.

Shauna L. Shapiro, Ph.D. is a professor of counseling psychology at Santa Clara University, and previously served as adjunct faculty for Andrew Weil’s Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona. Dr. Shapiro’s research focuses on mindfulness meditation and its applications to psychotherapy and health care. She began her study of psychology and meditation at Duke University, graduating summa cum laude, and received her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Arizona. Dr. Shapiro pursued her study of meditation in Thailand and Nepal, as well as in the West, training in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). Dr. Shapiro has conducted extensive clinical research investigating the effects of mindfulness-based therapies across a wide range of populations, and published over 50 book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles. She is the recipient of the American Council of Learned Societies teaching award, acknowledging her outstanding contributions to graduate education in the area of mindfulness and psychotherapy.  Dr. Shapiro co-authored with Dr. Linda Carlson, The Art and Science of Mindfulness.