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Julie's research interests include: strengths-based case management in adolescence; prevention and intervention approaches; assessment of risk and protection in vulnerable youth; social and emotional well-being in adolescence; evidence-based resources for adolescent development; positive youth development; teacher well-being and innovative measures of emotional states of teachers and students in the classroom.

Dr Julie Bower is an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Education. She conducts applied research in secondary schools to understand the social and emotional processes that keep students at school and engaged in learning. Her work is based in a positive youth development framework, focusing on the strengths of adolescents at risk and working in close partnership with schools to assist these students to reach their potential. She is interested in developing real-time measures of emotion in a classroom setting, assessment of both risk and protection in vulnerable youth; prevention and intervention approaches; social and emotional well-being in adolescence; evidence-based resources for adolescent development; and school-wide approaches for social and emotional well-being of students and teachers.

Julie Bower has over 29 years experience in the education sector, 21 of those in educational research and more recently, over the past 12 years in the development of the Mindfields® Program, The CAT-RPM, the t* (Teacher Emotions App) and the Mindful Practice for Teachers Program. She is now an educational consultant in Emotional Health in Schools. Julie’s experience in the field of education encompasses the areas of research project management, development of evidence-based resources, social and emotional wellbeing, cognitive behavioural interventions and strengths-based strategies for teacher and student well-being.

Dr Edwards is an Associate Professor in the School of Education where she is currently the Director of Research Innovation and Higher Degree Research. Her research spans education, psychology and medical education and her collaborators are national and international experts in these disciplines. Dr Edwards has an international reputation for contributing to understanding the link between anxiety, attention, and memory. Her work supports the notion that an inability to efficiently process information and maintain concentration, plays a critical role in the development and maintenance of emotional disorders.

Dr Edwards' latest work focusses on the translation of theory-driven, basic science into treatments for clinical problems, specifically for children and adolescents. For example, her research laboratory is currently conducting a series of studies investigating whether training the cognitive processes most vulnerable to anxiety and depression can in turn reduce emotional symptoms in children and adolescents. This work also seeks to understand the influence of cognitive training on academic achievement.

Dr Edwards completed a PhD and an honours degree in psychology (Bond University), and an undergraduate degree in education (Griffith University). For over two decades, she has worked as a primary classroom teacher, special education teacher, guidance counsellor, and psychologist. She has taught and supervised clinical, professional and research skills in education, psychology and medicine and worked in higher education in the United Kingdom and Australia. Dr Edwards joined The University of Queensland in 2020 to teach into the Master of Educational Studies (Guidance, Counselling and Careers).