Kirsten Johnson Nesbitt has been an educator for 16 years, with the last five years dedicated to teaching science at the STEM Lab K-8 Magnet School in Northglenn, CO. She excels in designing hands-on, inquiry-based learning experiences that encourage students to think critically, creatively, and challenge them to apply their knowledge to real-world issues. Her students have explored innovative solutions to reduce noise-related learning loss by designing strategies to control school acoustics using their understanding of the behavior of waves and investigated cost-effective foundation designs for building on expansive soils, to address one of the leading causes of structural damage in construction. Beyond her classroom, Kirsten fosters school community through sponsoring extracurricular clubs; including reptile club where students cultivate empathy and compassion as they observe and care for the animals’ well-being. She actively supports the school and district’s vision and mission by serving on district science and instructional leadership teams, as well as presenting at state-level science conferences. She was welcomed as a NSTA Scaling Up for STEM Teacher Fellow in 2024 and is collaborating with the GLOBE Weather Pathways Project to adapt geoscience resources for students with disabilities while promoting career pathways in STEM.