Sheila Ohlsson Walker, CFA, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist with Tufts University’s Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development and a Visiting Assistant Professor with the Johns Hopkins School of Education. Her interests center on how information from the multi-disciplinary field of biopsychosocial science can be translated and applied to promote mental and physical wellness and positive youth development.
Dr. Walker is focused on equipping adults who shape the lives of children and youth in education and sport contexts with knowledge and skills to build safe, trusting and supportive relationships that optimize broad developmental outcomes for their students and athletes. Her team is engaged in a two-fold workstream. First, generating academic research for publication in peer-reviewed journals, and second, translating and applying scientific research to create accessible and practical content that empowers classroom and athletic educators to help all youth reach their full human potential. Her overarching aim is to leverage science, story and human connection to cultivate contexts that promote intrinsically motivated social, emotional and academic learning, as well as a positive relationship with physical activity that fortifies mental and physical well-being throughout the life span.
Dr. Walker studied Business / Finance while attending the University of Colorado on a tennis scholarship and played professional tennis in Europe after graduation. Following a career in the investment business she received her doctorate in Behavioral Genetics from Kings College London in 2005. Dr. Walker is involved with several nonprofit organizations including the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Turnaround for Children, and LIFT Communities. She is married, has three sons, and lives in Denver, Colorado.
