Erika Christakis is an early childhood educator at the Yale Child Study Center, where she teaches college courses on child development and education policy. An honors graduate of Harvard College, she has advanced degrees from Johns Hopkins University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Lesley University s Graduate School of Education. She is a Massachusetts-certified teacher (pre-K through second grade) and a licensed preschool director. She has written for The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, TIME.com, and the Financial Times. She lives in New Haven, Connecticut.