Kirstin Milks

Dr. Kirstin Milks teaches AP Biology and introductory science at Bloomington High School South in Bloomington, Indiana, where she also serves as a STEM team coach and mentor. 

Kirstin loves collaborating with students and community members to learn together in inclusive and responsive environments, as well as supporting and making public the work of teaching and learning; her goal is to help youth build a just and sustainable world. 

A graduate of Stanford University’s Schools of Medicine (PhD) and Education (MA), she is a National Board Certified Teacher, a Presidential Awardee for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching, a Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellow, the 2025 president of the National Association of Biology Teachers, her Girl Scout council's Leader of the Year, and a Senior Fellow at the Knowles Teacher Initiative. 

She’s worked with organizations including the MacArthur Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the College Board, SXSW EDU, Educating for Environmental Change, and schools across the country to envision, engineer, and enact the future of education, with a focus on socially-responsive, problem- and project-based science teaching. Her students' innovations won top national prizes in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition in 2023 and 2025.

Kirstin is the co-author of PLACE-BASED SCIENCE TEACHING, a book to help educators connect students to curriculum, community, and caring for our planet; and co-editor of SOCIAL ACTION STORIES, a work/book of high-impact storytelling for classroom and community. She's also a maker and cultural worker whose efforts connects us to animals, nature, and each other.

When she’s not teaching or volunteering with Girl Scouts, Kirstin enjoys visiting the library with her family, practicing all-ages taekwondo, and singing along at top volume to local radio. 

Learn more—including how to contact Kirstin — here.