Carrie Launius has nearly 40 years of experience in education. As an elementary teacher, science coordinator, assistant superintendent, and college instructor in science education she has worked with teachers at all levels. She is currently the elementary science coordinator for Saint Louis Public Schools, an urban district that is the one of the largest school systems in Missouri. She previously worked at Lindbergh Schools, Hazelwood School District, and Normandy Schools Collaborative.

Launius has served as the NSTA District XI director and on many NSTA committees. She chaired several including the NSTA Awards Committee and NSTA-CBC Outstanding Trade Book Committee. Her work on the Trade Book committee strengthened her interest in infusing high quality trade books into elementary science classrooms. This work grew into her current research, Defining the Role of Trade Books in the STEM Fields. She created and led in developing the NSTA Best STEM Book initiative and worked with a committee to develop criteria and identify the first NSTA-CBC Best STEM Books. She currently is serving on the Best STEM Book committee of NSTA.

Besides her work with STEM trade books, Launius has done national work with Shell Oil and the Smithsonian, hiring, retaining, and building leaders of minority teachers. She is the past president of Science Teachers of Missouri and currently serves as the Executive Director.