Framing Complex Problems with Systems ThinkingCornell Course

Laura Cabrera (B.S., M.P.A, & PhD, Cornell) is the Board Chair and Professor at the Systems Thinking Standards Institute (STSI)™, where she leads the development of global systems thinking standards. She is also Co-Founder and CEO of Cabrera Research Lab and teaches Systems Thinking and Modeling and Systems Leadership at Cornell University at Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy’s Institute for Public Affairs. She is also Faculty Director for Cornell’s Graduate Certification Program in Systems Thinking, Modeling, and Leadership (STML). She is co-founder, and chief research officer at Cabrera Research Lab. She was Co-Founder and Chief Research Officer of Plectica (now Frameable) creator of several software applications including: Plectica systems mapping and Subtask.co project management, among others. Her research has been profiled in peer-reviewed journals, trade magazines, and popular publications, and she is author of several books including, The Origin of Ideas: Empirical Studies in Cognitive Complexity (forthcoming 2021). Dr. Cabrera is co-editor of the Routledge Handbook of Systems Thinking (forthcoming 2021) and a Senior Editor of the peer-reviewed Journal of Systems Thinking.

Over the past decade, Laura has applied her expertise in research methods and translational research to increase public understanding, practical application, and dissemination of sophisticated systems science and systems thinking models. She was also invited by eCornell to deliver the online course in Systems Thinking and Leadership. She was the acting Executive Director of ThinkWater, a USDA-funded initiative designed to implement systems thinking nationwide in water-based research, extension, and education. In 2018, she received the National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) for her work in cognitive mapping. She was previously a senior researcher at Cornell University’s Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research and has more than twenty-five years of research and teaching experience at Cornell University, where she taught coursework on families and social policy in Cornell’s Department of Human Development. Prior to her work at Cornell, Cabrera conducted research at the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Her work in public schools was documented in the full-length documentary film, RE:Thinking. Dr. Cabrera holds a PhD in Policy Analysis and Management and a Master’s in Public Administration, and a bachelor’s degree, all from Cornell University. She is a member of the United States Military Academy at West Point’s Systems Engineering Advisory Board. She specializes in translating cutting-edge research from the learning sciences for broad application–whether in corporations, schools, nonprofits, government agencies, or for parents interested in the psychosocial development of their children. She lives in Ithaca, NY, with her husband, Derek Cabrera,  three children, two grandchildren, and three dogs.

Derek Cabrera (PhD, Cornell) is an internationally known systems scientist who in 2021 was inducted as a Member of the International Academy for Systems and Cybernetic Sciences (IASCYS) for outstanding contributions to the field. Derek serves on the faculty of Cornell University where he teaches systems thinking, systems leadership, and systems mapping and is Faculty Director for the Graduate Certification Program in Systems Thinking, Modeling, and Leadership (STML). He is senior scientist at Cabrera Research Lab. He was Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of Plectica (now Frameable) where he invented several software applications including: Plectica systems mapping and Subtask.co project management, among others. He has given two TED Talks, written and produced a rap song, a children’s book on cognition, and authored numerous book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles. He was invited by LinkedIn Learning to develop online courses on systems thinking and systems leadership & organizational design. He was also invited by eCornell to deliver the online course in Systems Thinking and Leadership. His research has been profiled in peer-reviewed journals, trade magazines, and popular publications, and he is author of ten books including, The Origin of Ideas: Empirical Studies in Cognitive Complexity (forthcoming 2021), Systems Thinking Made Simple (winner of the 2017 AECT outstanding book award), Thinking at Every Desk, and Flock Not Clock. He is credited with discovering universal organizing rules of systems (DSRP Theory and VMCL Theory). Cabrera is co-editor of the Routledge Handbook of Systems Thinking (forthcoming 2021) and on the editorial board of the international, peer-reviewed journal, Systems. He is the Editor in Chief of the peer-reviewed Journal of Systems Thinking. His work in public schools was documented in the full-length documentary film, RE:Thinking. He was Research Fellow at the Santa Fe Institute (SFI) for the Study of Complex Systems and National Science Foundation IGERT Fellow in Nonlinear Systems in the Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at Cornell University. As a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow, he developed new techniques to model systems approaches in the evaluation of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). In 2018, he received the National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) for his work in cognitive mapping.

Cabrera was awarded the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ K. Patricia Cross Future Educational Leaders Award. He serves on the United States Military Academy at West Point’s Systems Engineering Advisory Board. His contributions to the field of systems thinking have been integrated into NSF, NIH, and USDA-NIFA programs, K-12, higher education, NGOs, federal agencies, corporations, and business schools. His systems models are used by many of Silicon Valley’s most innovative companies. His books are used as introductory text for undergraduate and graduate students in numerous colleges and universities including Cornell University, the US Military Academy at West Point, and the US Army War College. Cabrera has developed and patented a suite of systems thinking tools for use in academia, business, and beyond including the first validated personal inventory of systems thinking. Prior to becoming a scientist, Cabrera worked for fifteen years around the world as a mountain guide and experiential educator for Outward Bound and other organizations and has climbed many of the world’s highest mountains. He holds a PhD from Cornell University and lives in Ithaca, NY, with his wife, Laura Cabrera, three children, two grandchildren, and three dogs.