Dr. Chris Schaben, is the Science Supervisor for Omaha Public Schools (OPS), the largest urban district in Nebraska. Dr. Schaben is a passionate science/STEM education leader who inspires teachers and students. His work as Principal Investigator of several grants has moved his district to a student-centered science program. His efforts have led to two, OPS student-generated experiments flying aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor STS-134 in the initial Student Spaceflight Experiments Program. Dr. Schaben applied the lessons learned from this experience to create a Near-Space Students’ Experiments Program in OPS with over 90 high altitude balloon launches to date, directly from OPS schools. Dr. Schaben is also actively engaged at the regional, state, and national levels. He is a past president of both the Nebraska
Academy of Science and the Metropolitan Science and Engineering Fair. He also served as the Advisory Board Chair for the Omaha STEM Ecosystem. He is Vice President and Co-founder of the Nebraska Junior Academy of Science. Dr. Schaben has authored multiple science education journal articles, was promoted to Fellow of AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) in 2017, and is the 2018 National Outstanding Leadership in Science Education awardee from the National Science Education Leadership Association.