Kris Cole has been teaching environmental science in the state of Florida for 25 years. He has been instrumental in the implementation of environmental service-learning programs at both Winter Springs High School and Sanford Seminole High School.

He and his students partnered with St. Johns River Water Management to help mitigate the effects of eutrophication on Lake Jessup. Kris and his students partnered with Seminole County Natural Lands to conduct species surveys to measure the impact non-native species are having on native species. They partnered with Seminole County Emergency Management to create Florida's first Community Emergency Response Team Training Program to be taught in a high school.

Kris and his students are best known for their efforts to name the Florida Scrub Jay as Florida's State Bird. Kris and his students have testified before the Florida House of Representatives, the Florida Senate, Seminole Soil and water Conservation Commission, the City Council of Sanford, and the FWC Commission regarding the state bird issue. Kris and his students have been interviewed by NPR, This American Life, ABC's Animal Outtakes, WESH News, the Florida Channel, Cast and Blast Florida, the Orlando Sentinel, the Sanford Herald, and other media outlets too numerous to list.

You can follow Kris on YouTube at Colesters Classroom.