Dr. Lori Desautels has served as an Assistant Professor at Butler University since 2016, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the College of Education. Prior to this, she spent eight years as an Assistant Professor at Marian University in Indianapolis, where she founded the Educational Neuroscience Symposium. Now in its 16th year, the symposium has reached thousands of educators across the country.
Lori is passionate about engaging students through the lens of social and relational neuroscience as it applies to education. She integrates the Tier One trauma-accommodating Applied Educational Neuroscience (AEN) framework, along with its principles and practices, into her coursework at Butler University.
In 2016, Lori created the Applied Educational Neuroscience Certification program to support educators, counselors, clinicians, and administrators working with children and adolescents experiencing adversity and trauma. The certification is now a global program and has reached hundreds of educators worldwide.
Lori’s work has been featured in Edutopia, Brain Bulletin, and Mind Body Spirit international magazine. She has also published research in the Brain Research Journal based on her work in fifth-grade classrooms during a course release position with Washington Township Schools. She continues to co-teach in K–12 classrooms, applying her research to real-time classroom procedures and transitions that support nervous system regulation and foster felt safety.
Lori is the author of six books, with more in development. Her recent titles include Intentional Neuroplasticity: Our Educational Journey Toward Post-Traumatic Growth, Connections over Compliance: Rewiring Our Perceptions of Discipline, and Body and Brain Brilliance: A Manual to Cultivate Awareness and Practices for Our Nervous System, released in 2024.
To date, Lori has worked with over 200 school districts across the United States and internationally, including in Canada, Costa Rica, Australia, Scotland, England, and Dubai—reaching more than 150,000 educators, with much more work ahead.
