Crystal Risko has chased after science since she was a small child trading in her usual dresses and frills for animals and the outdoors.

“The only time my mom ever saw me get dirty was when I was chasing some sort of creature or when I wanted to go to the stables to go horseback riding and see the other animals,” she says. “While animals are still a large passion of mine, my love of science has continued to expand, encompassing a wide range of topics.”

Now Carolina’s product manager for earth, environmental, and AP life sciences, Crystal’s love for animals first led her to a zoology degree from the University of Florida. She later earned a master of business administration in data analytics from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

After graduating, she became a high school teacher in Duval County, Florida before arriving at Carolina after learning about the company at an NSTA conference. Taking her insider’s knowledge of teachers’ needs, she sought to serve them by developing products to enrich their classrooms. Crystal worked for several years building core and curriculum products that spanned grade levels and disciplines before moving to her current role.

Of the projects she’s completed, Crystal has especially enjoyed developing AP materials for biology and environmental science and working with her colleagues to develop earth science kits.

“I’ve enjoyed getting to know those teachers, getting to know their struggles and needs in their classrooms to try to hone in on a product that will really help them with our AP lines,” she says. “I’m a big fan of kits. I think that they can help teachers teach difficult subjects and ideas and make their lives a little bit easier.”

Her favorite kits? The Carolina Kits 3D series, which covers a wide range of disciplines.

“Whether it’s life science, biology, chemistry, physics, or earth science, there’s something in there that could help every teacher or student out there,” she says.

The most fulfilling part of Crystal’s work is being a partner to teachers, hearing their feedback, and developing solutions that make their instruction more enjoyable, efficient, and impactful.

“I know for some people it’s probably impacting students,” she says, “and it is impacting students for me, but the way we get to impact students is by way of their teachers. How can we do things that make their teachers’ lives better or give their teachers the tools they need to be successful?

“The best, most rewarding part of my job is anytime I get to help a teacher in any way, shape, or form—big or small. I sometimes wish that teachers knew how much Carolina is willing to help and be there for them if they need it.”

From dissections and chemistry demonstrations to extensive experience in environmental science and life science, Crystal’s skills are wide-ranging, something she attributes to her years in the classroom.

“You wind up being a little bit of everything when you teach, and that’s carried over for me in my time at Carolina.”