Nico Janik - Nico Janik

After graduating from UC Santa Barbara and Stanford with degrees in Environmental Studies and Mechanical Engineering, Nico’s first career was in toy design.  Her Master's Thesis project at Stanford was a design for a floating magnifying lens for students on field trips at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve (in Half Moon Bay, CA). It allowed students to be able to see life in the tidepools up close without disturbing it. Since then, 3 themes in all of her work have been 1. learning about and protecting the environment, 2. working with students and teachers and 3. using engineering as a way to surface and solve local problems.  She is a credentialed teacher, and taught 3rd-5th grade science in a public school district in California.  She has worked in both formal and informal education. She rolled out a district wide Makerspace program in the Ravenswood City School District, and was able to support STEM for all students in the district through that work. She has coached teachers and developed and facilitated professional learning for teachers of all grades and across the state.  She is a new convert to GLOBE, learning about the program after joining WestEd (and is part of the WestEd/UCB Partnership).  She loves working with students and teachers, and she loves science and engineering!