Researcher, Mentor, Adventurer
Kristina Olson studies how people think about the social categories around them and their place in those categories. Most of her recent work has focused on transgender and gender-nonconforming children’s understanding of gender. Her research also investigates predictors of well-being in LGBTQ+ youth, the role of activism in their well-being, and transgender youth’s satisfaction with gender-affirming care. Olson’s research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health. She won the Alan T. Waterman award from the U.S. National Science Foundation (the highest scientific honor for faculty under 40 years old) and was named a 2018 MacArthur Fellow. Outside of work, she enjoys all aspects of food: growing it, cooking and baking it, and, of course, eating it.