Mary L. Cohen, PhD, is Professor of Music Education at the University of Iowa and Affiliate in Music and Peacebuilding with Min-On Music Research Institute. In addition to teaching and advising, she is a Dean’s Scholar, and recipient of the 2014 University of Iowa Distinguished Achievement in Publicly Engaged Research Award. Her research area is wellness through music-making with respect to prison contexts, writing and songwriting, and collaborative communities. She founded and led the Oakdale Community Choir from 2009-2020, comprised of incarcerated men and female and male community members. Her research is published in the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing, Journal of Research in Music Education, the Australian Journal of Music Education, Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, Journal of Correctional Education, the International Journal of Community Music, the International Journal of Music Education, the Choral Journal, Advances in Music Education, and in edited books. She is a Certified InterPlay leader, a system that uses improvisation for self-expression in music, storytelling, and movement. She is lead author with Stuart Paul Duncan, of  Music-Making in U.S. Prisons: Listening to Incarcerated Voices (2022).