Sophie Barnes

Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Student Development in the College of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Sophie works in the Education Collaboratory at UMass, primarily on projects that advance the science and practice of social and emotional learning (SEL) through rigorous evidence syntheses.  Sophie began her work with the Education Collaboratory at Yale when she joined the Child Study Center as a Postdoctoral Associate in November 2024. 

Sophie's research centers on understanding the setting- and individual-level mechanisms that support children’s social, emotional, and behavioral skill development in school contexts, with a focus on executive function and self-regulation. She is also interested in adding nuance and precision to SEL measurement and partnering with schools and districts to develop feasible, responsible, and actionable assessment plans. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Sophie worked in the Ecological Approaches to Social and Emotional Learning (EASEL) Lab led by Dr. Stephanie Jones on a number of evaluations of school-based interventions that target children’s SEL growth and development and research and translational writing projects.

Sophie received her Ph.D. in Education from Harvard University. She also holds a B.S. in Applied Psychology from New York University and an Ed.M. in Human Development and Psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.