Kirstin Milks (she/they) learns from and with AP Biology and Earth/space science students at Bloomington High School South in Bloomington, IN.

As a teacher, Kirstin is committed to engaging students in authentic scientific practices. She also collaborates with students and community members to learn together in inclusive and responsive environments, and supports and makes public the work of teaching and learning—all with the goal of helping youth build a just and sustainable world.

Issues of equity/diversity/inclusion, climate change and its impacts, and ethics are central foci of Kirstin’s work, which includes public scholarship in science curriculum as well as in school and classroom culture(s).

Kirstin is a National Board Certified Teacher and a Senior Fellow at the Knowles Teacher Initiative, where she is an editor-in-chief at Kaleidoscope: Educator Voices and Perspectives. Closer to home, she helps to facilitate and coordinate curriculum for workshops where teachers from across the country learn more about educating for environmental change from scientists and educators at Indiana University.

Kirstin holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Stanford and a master's in teaching from the Stanford Teacher Education Program. She has received several national awards, including the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the NABT Kim Foglia AP Biology Service Award, and the Stanford University Graduate School of Education Alumni Excellence in Education Award. Kirstin identifies as White, genderqueer, and a survivor of childhood trauma.