Kimi Waite is an Assistant Professor of Child and Family Studies at California State University, Los Angeles. A former elementary school teacher in South Los Angeles and a STEM curriculum specialist in Compton, she has received both national and state recognition for her leadership in environmental education, social studies, and climate change education. She is an early career fellow with the UCLA Center for Diverse Leadership in Science; the 2021 California Council for the Social Studies Outstanding Elementary Social Studies Teacher of the Year; a 2021 Public Voices Fellow on the Climate Crisis with the OpEd Project and the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication; and a 2019 Environmental Education 30 Under 30, awarded by the North American Association for Environmental Education. Since 2019, she has been a steering committee member for California's statewide climate change initiative, the Environmental and Climate Change Literacy Projects (ECCLPS). Her work has been published by outlets such as PBS, The Boston Globe, Grist, Ms. Magazine, The Progressive Magazine, The Journal of Curriculum & Pedagogy, and more.