Community Chair in Infant and Child Mental Health, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Torquati is a professor in the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies in the College of Education and Human Sciences at UNL. As the inaugural recipient of the Community Chair in Infant and Child Mental Health, she contributes expertise in the areas of infant and child mental health and development of children's social skills and regulation, and she helps educate families and other care providers to support mental and emotional development in young children.

Torquati serves as the principal investigator of RESPECT Across Nebraska, a collaboration among multiple institutions and communities dedicated to strengthening the state’s early childhood workforce.

John T. Langan Community Chair in Early Childhood Education, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Wisneski is a professor in teacher education in the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Her research examines how educators and communities can support children’s learning through play.  Wisneski leads a team of educators and researchers at UNO in early childhood teacher preparation and play projects.

Projects include Omaha Urban Thinkscapes, the redesign of infant/toddler playscapes with Educare, RDG and BCI Burke playgrounds, the creation of the UNO PLAY Lab, and the Playful Learning and Community Engagement (PLACE) faculty group. She is the past president of Childhood Education International, The Association for the Study of Play, and Education Rights Counsel. Watch her talk at TEDxMiamiUniversity.