Contributing Authors

This course book is the companion text for the Child Development: Brain Building online and in-person course published and distributed by EarlyEdU Alliance®. The content in the course would not be possible without the efforts of content authors who are specialists in the neuroscience, early childhood, and human learning. In particular, we wish to acknowledge the individual contributions from the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences.

Content Authors

Amelia Bachleda

Amelia Bachleda, PhD is director of outreach and education at the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences. Her professional background bridges the gap between two distinct fields – education and neuroscience. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy in neurobiology, and as an outreach specialist, Amelia specializes in sharing the science of learning and development in actionable formats.

Sarah Lytle

Sarah Lytle, PhD was the director of outreach and education for the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) at the University of Washington. I-LABS is an interdisciplinary research center dedicated to discovering fundamental principles of human learning, with an emphasis on helping all children achieve their full potential. They conduct innovative research on children’s cognitive, linguistic, social-emotional, and brain development. Sarah is an expert in child development and has conducted research on language development and children’s interactions with screen media.

Anna Waismeyer

Anna Waismeyer, PhD, was an outreach specialist at the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) at the University of Washington. The Outreach and Education team at I-LABS creates new and effective ways to bridge the gap between the science and the practice of learning. Anna has researched very young children and how they make rapid inferences about causal relationships between people or objects from sparse and inconsistent personal observations.