Bonnie Poon Zahl

Bonnie Poon Zahl is the Principal Advisor to the TWCF President, as well as Principal Advisor for the Big Questions in Classrooms initiative, and Principal Advisor for The Science of Religious and Spiritual Exercises priority. She also provides consultation to the Foundation on other areas of grantmaking. Dr. Zahl is a Senior Research Coordinator at the University of Oxford.

Dr. Zahl’s background is in social psychology, specializing in empirical approaches in psychology of religion. She has published on religious cognition, attachment theory, and research methods, and has taught psychology of religion at the University of Cambridge and at St John’s College, Nottingham. She is particularly interested in the scientific study of the cognitive, affective, and social dimensions of religion and non-belief. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Bonnie received her B.A. in psychology from Harvard College and her Ph.D. in social and developmental psychology from the University of Cambridge.