Raksmey Derival

Raksmey (Raks) Derival is a Cambodian-American woman, daughter of refugee immigrants, and mother of two Cambodian-Haitian sons. She graduated from Suffolk University with a degree in biochemistry and forensic science and gained initial industry experience at forensic toxicology drug testing labs.

Raks pursued a PhD in green chemistry under Dr. Amy Cannon and Dr. John Warner at the University of Massachusetts Lowell Center for Green Chemistry. After an amazing year of learning and growth, Raks was offered an incredible opportunity to join Amy and John to support the birth of Beyond Benign and the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry in 2007. While she had to pause her PhD pursuit, Raks gained tremendous experience as Beyond Benign's High School Science & Outreach Initiatives Manager. One of her greatest passions was the Outreach Fellows program where she mentored 80+ college and high school students through internships, lab work, and research projects. Raks also supported the trainings of 200+ middle and high school science teachers who sought to implement green chemistry into their curriculum. Working closely with high school students and teachers showed Raks that she loved being in the classroom and engaging directly with the youth. With the encouragement from her mentor Dr. Amy Cannon, Raks became a full-time chemistry teacher at Innovation Academy Charter School (IACS) in 2011.

Starting her educator career at IACS was a huge blessing for Raks, as a unique focus of IACS is systems thinking. After their first year, all teachers are required to incorporate systems thinking in their curriculum. It was very evident to Raks that green chemistry, sustainability, and systems thinking beautifully interconnect, so Raks enthusiastically piloted ways to teach these concepts in her chemistry classes. After a decade of experimenting to find the best ways to interweave these concepts while balancing breadth and depth of chemistry content, Raks recognized the need to make space for more green chemistry education. With the help of incredibly supportive science department colleagues and school leader administrators, Raks created the "Green Chemistry and Sustainability" course in 2021. Her school has now mandated that all students successfully complete a Chemistry or Green Chemistry and Sustainability course as part of their graduation requirements - the first high school in the United States to do so!

In 2019, Raks was inducted into the American Chemical Society’s Aula Laudis Honor Society, considered a Hall of Fame for high school chemistry teachers. This distinction was earned through her on-going green chemistry education and outreach work. Raks continues green chemistry outreach work as Director of the IACS Science Ambassadors program. She loves working alongside her high school students as they visit local K-8 (elementary and middle school) students and guide them through green chemistry hands-on activities.

Raks is honored to have served on the Massachusetts Culturally Responsive Teaching Task Force and IACS Staff for Racial Justice (SRJ). She continues to serve on the IACS Racial Justice Committee (RJC) after helping to co-found it in 2020. Raks also advises the Students of Color Affinity Club, Asian Association of IACS Club, and the Science Exploration Club.

Raks is passionate about healing the world through kindness and science, creating positive energy in social justice movements, and empowering others to remember that they are always, and in all ways, greater than they think they are.