She began her career as a school teacher. Her primary duties at UBC include research and teaching adolescent development to prospective secondary and middle school teachers enrolled in the UBC Teacher Education Program. Dr. Schonert-Reichl also teaches graduate courses in the social and emotional development of children and adolescents, behavioral and emotional disorders, and risk and resiliency in childhood and adolescence. Dr. Schonert-Reichl's research examines the social and emotional development of children and adolescents with a particular emphasis on discerning the developmental processes and mechanisms associated with positive development across childhood and adolescence, especially in relation to school settings.