Kristin Leigh

Kristin Leigh is the Co-Executive Director at Explora in Albuquerque, NM, where she has worked since 2001. She is responsible for all aspects of membership, fundraising, development, community engagement, operations, and strategic initiatives, like the X Studio teen center and Brillante Early Learning Center. Kristin also has supervised the Exhibits group and the Educational Services groups and has overseen the development of inquiry science programs for students of all ages, development of curriculum and materials for the early childhood Growing a Scientist program, facilitation of professional development workshops for teachers and bench scientists, and development of after-school and weekend programs in science, technology, engineering, art, and math. 

Kristin holds a M. Ed. in Science Curriculum and Instruction from Arizona State University. Prior to entering the informal science community, she was a classroom teacher in Phoenix. After becoming interested in the informal science learning community, she moved to Albuquerque and joined the team to open the new Explora in its permanent location (2003). Since then, she has participated in several professional development opportunities, like the Informal Learning Certificate program from the Center for Informal Learning and Schools at the Exploratorium. She is active in the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) and Association of Children’s Museums (ACM) and served on the core planning committee for the 2013 conference in Albuquerque. This spring 2025, she’ll serve on the core planning committee for the ACM conference, which Explora will host in Albuquerque for 1,000 museum professionals. Kristin sits on the Informal Learning Committee of the Board of the National Science Education Leadership Association and has worked on a number of National Science Foundation-funded projects, like Playful Invention and Exploration, Learning Places, Science Firsthand and Portal to the Public, on which she served as co-PI. Kristin is a Noyce Leadership Institute Fellow. 

Kristin lives in Albuquerque with her husband, David, an artist and teacher; their son, Grant, just moved to Los Angeles for his freshman year at Occidental College.