That's a great question, Brian! We do see students (re)constructing their identities as science learners. We have noted that students freely engage in mixing joking and science discourse -- in a sense to make their engagement in science more comfortable. We have also noticed how they make the space available for discussions about their cultural/ethnic practices. In the video, the students talked freely about the use of thanakha instead of sunscreen. The clip is a snippet of a very rich and lively discussion that really positioned the youth as producers of knowledge. As to how it shows up in other areas of their lives, some students have told us in their interviews that they are a bit more comfortable talking about weather/climate/climate change because of what they have learned in the program. They share it with their friends and family. For example, when news of how Scott Pruitt rejected the idea that humans cause climate change, some participants have told me in interviews that they wanted to find out more about it and they engaged in long discussions about it with their friends. Another example is when one youth said that now she uses an egg timer when she showers  (and also told her siblings to do the same!)to make sure she reduces her carbon footprint. 

As to how it shows up in other areas of their lives, some students have told us in their interviews that they are a bit more comfortable talking about weather/climate/climate change because of what they have learned in the program. They share it with their friends and family. For example, when news of how Scott Pruitt rejected the idea that humans cause climate change, some participants have told me in interviews that they wanted to find out more about it and they engaged in long discussions about it with their friends. Another example is when one youth said that now she uses an egg timer when she showers  (and also told her siblings to do the same!)to make sure she reduces her carbon footprint. These are but few examples of course...

Patricia, Thank you for your nice words and great questions. We do find that the youth enjoy sharing their individual experiences and stories as well. We have been striving to incorporate more opportunities for that. 

For your questions, lots of youth participate in summer action research program, in which they deal with issues facing their community though they are not necessarily science-related topics (e.g., cultural integration of their community). Our next step would be to incorporate community issues in our program. The youth participants do share their videos with close friends and family members. Indeed, one participant said her parents were very proud of her and her video, which made her happy. We would like to create a platform to share with broader audience as well. Inviting them as mentors was an idea we wanted to try, but it has been somewhat hard logistically. We haven't invited experts to the program, but that would be a great addition!  

Thanks for the questions! We are still grappling with those questions--what to do next? We have been thinking about if we engage other refugee groups in other regions (which indeed we have been seriously considering), what would it look like? What are things that can be transferable to the new setting and what new/different ways to create the space emerge in new settings? And how can we create a larger community in which the youth in different regions communicate with each other? If you (and anyone) have any suggestion, we would appreciate!  

There are so many relevant and current issues as refugee populations soar. It would be interesting to look at the differences between engaging climate refugees, vs those motivated by war, religious persecution, etc. 

Thank you for your ideas. Yes, certainly they are all very important issues that refugees are facing. I also wonder what particular groups (in the project of our project, Burmese youth in this community) feel as relevant and important to them. One thing that I have learned over time is they are very interested in learning about health issues. 

Thanks for the comments! As you hinted, we believe the sustainability question (what would happen to our site after the funding runs out) and also broader impact question (what other people can learn from our work and design something similar to their own context) are very important. We plan to write up our learnings for practioner-oriented journals/online-planforms and make our curriculum materials available to the public. We understand that this may not be enough. If you have thoughts, please let us know as well!