Destenie Nock is a researcher, educator, and storyteller who writes about kids facing impossible odds, along with the unfair systems stacked against them. Drawing on her experience as a foster mom and her research studying energy poverty and social justice, she writes stories where kids challenge broken rules, reclaim power, and work towards a better (more fair) future.

By day, Nock is an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University and the founder of Peoples Energy Analytics, where she uses data to uncover invisible forms of hardship and help communities navigate unjust energy systems. By night, she turns many of her research questions—Who gets overlooked in society? Who decides the rules?—into fantasy stories.
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Destenie lives in Pittsburgh with her husband, daughter, and dog.