Kevin O'Toole is a nationally recognized science educator with a Master’s Degree in Secondary Education. He is the creator of the Monarch Butterfly Project, a 15,000-square-foot, student-designed native habitat that now serves as a permanent outdoor classroom and a key part of the biology curriculum at Morton Freshman Center in Cicero, IL. The project has been honored with a permanent feature in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and was the subject of a special photo shoot by a National Geographic photographer. Kevin and his students have presented their project at the United Nations International Day of Forests, streamed worldwide. He is a frequent presenter at Northern Illinois Science Educators (NISE) conferences and was recently selected as a leader for the Next Generation Science Educators (NGSE) network. He was also nominated for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST), the highest honor awarded to STEM educators in the United States. After teaching biology for 15 years, Kevin is in his 3rd year as the Science Curriculum Coordinator and Science Coach for J. Sterling Morton High School District 201 and runs a highly successful Summer Garden Program. His work emphasizes real-world data collection, citizen science, outdoor learning, and creating transformative, inquiry-based educational experiences.