Kirsten Vanstone, BSc (Astronomy & Physics, University of Toronto 1994), Masters of Science Communication (Central Queensland University, 2005)

Kirsten began her career communicating science while working at the Ontario Science Centre as an undergraduate. She has worked as an educator at the Ontario Science Centre, the Royal Ontario Museum and the California Academy of Sciences, developing general and K-12 education programs and exhibitions. Her non-museum work includes non-profit management, communications, educational publishing, television script research and writing. She has taught general astronomy courses for U of T’s School of Continuing Studies and has been a volunteer with the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, the Astronomical Association of Northern California, the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. She is a founding member of Earthshine Astronomy, an astronomy education charity based in Mississauga. In 2013, Kirsten became the first Executive Director of the Royal Canadian Institute, Canada’s oldest public, scientific society, working to increase its presence and impact across Canada.