Kicking off AMT Lab’s Art + Climate series,  Lead Researcher Hannah Brainard talks with Jennifer Torrance, a science educator and the Youth Climate Advocacy Committee (YCAC) Coordinator at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. YCAC creates a space for Pittsburgh’s young people to take action on issues that they care about. In this unique program, students take on a variety of projects that unite their skills and interest in the climate movement. Recent projects include a water bottle photojournalism project, to developing curriculum for elementary students, and even an eco-fashion show. 

In this episode, hear from Torrance about the process of developing the committee and how she works to make the program truly youth-led. 

This interview is in two parts. To hear about Torrance’s experience attending COP28, accompanied by YCAC youth leader and University of Pittsburgh student Anna Bagwell, listen to Part Two: COP28 Takeaways for Cultural Organizations.

Phipps YCAC is funded through the generous support of the Heinz Endowments.

TRANSCRIPTION

Hannah Brainard

Thank you for listening to another episode of Tech in the Arts, the podcast series of the Arts Management and Technology Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University. The goal of our podcast series is to exchange ideas, bring awareness and stay on top of the trends.

My name is Hannah Brainard, my pronouns are she/her, and I’m the lead researcher with AMT Lab. In this series, we’re exploring the intersections of climate and the arts through interviews with leaders across disciplines. We hope you’ll learn more about  actions you or your organization can take toward a more sustainable future. 

Today, I’m joined by Jennifer Torrance, a science educator and the Youth Climate Advocacy Committee (YCAC) Coordinator at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. 

Founded in 1893, Phipps maintains 15 acres of beautiful green space in Pittsburgh, including a 14-room glasshouse and 23 distinct gardens. Phipps also has industry-leading sustainable architecture and green practices, stunning seasonal flower shows, exclusive commissioned exhibits, and more.

In the first episode of this two-part interview, we’ll discuss the Youth Climate Advocacy Committee, and how the organization works to resource and empower Pittsburgh Youth to take action on the issues they care about.

Hannah Brainard  

So we'll just kind of dive into our first question here. So the Youth Climate Advocacy Committee - or YCAC -  Could you tell us a little bit about how it got started and how it's structured?

Jennifer Torrance  

YCAC formed in 2021, but plans for it were in place before the pandemic. So my predecessor in my role did a lot of work with The Fairchild Challenge, which is a project that brings environmental education projects into schools, into classrooms, and ties them to EPA, state standards of education to make them easy for teachers to implement, makes them multidisciplinary, and really tries to bring environmental education into multiple facets of education and students’ creativity.

And, from that project, she heard a lot from the students about wanting a space for young people to take more action on climate, and how there really weren't a lot of things, like a youth committee, set up anywhere for young people to have a voice and be able to share their thoughts and have meaningful avenues for action. And so she started to develop this program. And then, of course, we got the pandemic and everything closed down. And in the process, she actually left to go be a teacher, which is amazing! And so then I came back in. I was in a different role at Phipps, and when we came back from the pandemic, they offered me this role, and it seemed so exciting.

So I was able to be the one to kind of take her project off the ground and get it started. We got a lot of help from Communitopia in regards to like - they have their Pittsburgh Youth For Climate Action Group. And their organizer at the time helped a lot with kind of the structure, how to set group norms, how to make the space meaningful for youth and inclusive and engaging, and especially how to avoid tokenization of youth. How to really have their voices uplifted and empowered, and how to have them leading the way on the committee. And, I had previously worked with elementary schoolers, so that was all kind of new to me, this idea of working with high school and college age young people, and how to set them up for success while also letting them have autonomy and agency over the committee. So, they were very helpful. I was very thankful for Communitopia in that regard.

Our first year, we had 25 young people, and they were incredible. I could not have asked for a better team to be the founding committee of our YCAC.  And those founding members really helped put a solid foundation down and build something that could grow.

 I was just so impressed with all of the students who joined the committee. I don't know that any of them knew each other. Not a single one. They were all, or almost all of them were from different schools or if they were from the same school they were in different grades or,  if they were in college in different majors. So they were all new to each other coming in working together, collaborating, and able to build such an incredibly robust program. 

And we really tried to keep it as youth-led as possible. We asked for a lot of feedback - we still ask for a lot of feedback - just to make sure that the committee is going the direction that the young people that it's serving want it to go. Because, if it's not serving those young people in a way that's meaningful for them, then it's not doing its job.

This is kind of how it got started. We've tried out a few different ways of building climate action and environmental justice projects. The first year, we decided on three topics. As a group, we kind of just voted on them. And everyone kind of fell into one of those three projects and worked on it. And from feedback we got, some people were like, well, I was interested in this project, but it wasn't my first choice. So then the next year, we're like, okay, you can do any project, you can work on one alone, you can work in a group of up to six, like up to you, we got nine projects out of that year. And they all the projects were something that those young people were very passionate about. But the tradeoff was that a lot of people worked alone and didn't make as strong of connections as they did the first year. So now that we're in our third year, we have a balance of - you need to have at least two people in a group so that you make a connection with someone else, no more than five or six in a group. And that still allows for six projects that are varied in what they're about, and also are something that the people working on them are passionate about. They didn't just kind of fall into that project. 

So that's been really nice to see our evolution and how the committee has grown. 

Hannah Brainard

I love that. And I love that there's such a diversity of some of the projects that are involved. One that I was looking at was an Instagram account of water bottles captured where they shouldn't be all throughout Pittsburgh, sort of a photojournalism project. I thought that was such an interesting approach.

But, many others. Could you maybe tell us a little bit about some of the projects that have been really exciting to see the young people do. 

Jennifer Torrance 

Absolutely. So going back to the photojournalism one with the water bottles. A quick side note on that. One is that that student for our YCAC showcase where we display our projects, she actually went out and just spent 10 minutes walking around collecting water bottles to see how many she could find. And in 10 minutes, she filled a bin that - I'm not sure how to describe the size of her podcast - a bin that could fit three cats. 

Hannah Brainard 

Three cats worth of water bottles?

Jennifer Torrance 

Three cats worth of water bottles in 10 minutes, just walking around Pittsburgh.

Hannah Brainard 

Wow.

Jennifer Torrance  

So I think that that definitely proved her point of like, there's so many and there's so much pollution, and we need to be more aware of single use plastics and how we're using them and how we're disposing of them or recycling them. And maybe getting away from using them entirely. 

Some of the other projects that have been incredibly outstanding. Our first year, we had a group that was focused on environmental education, specifically for middle schoolers. And this project came to us from a student who had gone to his school and his school board and asked if he could teach middle schoolers about environmental education. And his teachers and school board said, “Well, you don't have the credibility to do this.” Like, “You aren’t a  teacher, you’re a high schooler.” 

And that was so disheartening, because he had so much knowledge that he could share. And so what he did instead was he took a survey of middle schoolers, and he asked them how interested they were in learning about different environmental topics. And overwhelmingly, all of the students said, they're very interested in learning about it, they want to learn about it more in school, there aren't a lot of opportunities, they wish it was part of the curriculum. 

From there, he brought it to us. And because we already do projects like the Phipps Fairchild Challenge, where we are able to tie projects to PA State standards of education, we were able to provide the resources and the support for that project. And, we were able to show his group -  there were about eight of them in that group - how to pick a topic, find the PA state standards of education that apply to that topic in different grade levels, and kind of write up that list so you can show a teacher: “This is relevant. These hit your standards. These are something that you already need to teach, and this lesson fits that criteria.” 

And then those students were able to develop lessons on water quality, air pollution, and plastic pollution. Our Phipps team reviewed them just for more credibility for backing from an organization. And then we actually helped them do outreach to schools and say, “Hey, we have some high schoolers who have this lesson. We've reviewed it. It aligns with PA state standards of education, would you allow these students to come in and teach?”

They taught over 200 middle schoolers their lessons. And it was all them. They did the teaching. They planned the lessons. They have the capability to do that, they just weren't given the platform until Phipps could put the ‘Phipps stamp of approval’ on it. 

So that's kind of our goal for the committee, right?  We want them to lead the projects that they feel are most valuable for the community. And we're just there in the background to support those and uplift those and say “yes, these are good projects, they're credible, you should give these students a shot. Like, please support them in any way you can.”  

So far, it's worked out really well. So, that project was especially special to me, as an educator.

Jennifer Torrance

Very briefly, some other amazing projects were a cookbook that was environmentally friendly, like climate friendly recipes, but also budget friendly for students or for people in under-resourced areas or low-income families.

The cookbook included information about why these recipes were climate friendly, and like what sorts of foods you can look for, in addition to these that you could add into your diet to be more climate friendly. It also talked about ingredients that might be unusual to people or ingredients that you aren't as familiar with. I know a lot of young people aren't as familiar with something like lentils, even though lentils are pretty common like in the adult world. When I was a teenager, I never heard of a lentil. 

So, they talked about lentils, and how you know, you can go to Walmart and get a bag of lentils for 99 cents, and they're really high in protein, they're really good for you. And they're also very climate friendly. So talking about those sorts of things.

There was a neat project on climate policy and kind of the air quality in the Pittsburgh area, and the legislation behind that. Some of the laws regarding pollution and air quality specifically, and kind of the history of that both in Pittsburgh, and in the United States.

There was a project about urban gardening and how to make your own rain barrel to collect water and use that for an urban garden, which was really neat. There's been some more creative ones, like poetry and, and writing and artwork related to the environment.  And, I think the one that most people know us for is our sustainable fashion show. Okay, that was a project started by one of the founding members. And she continued it for two years. And now the students this year have taken it on. You know, fashion - the fast fashion industry -  is a huge contributor to climate change, and pollution in general.

And so she thought it would be a great idea to bring awareness to this issue, because young people especially are so interested in fashion and so interested in like style and having your own aesthetic. And sustainable fashion is a great way to do that. Right, like the idea of finding something that isn't a thrift store and being able to tailor it for you, or being able to sew your own clothes out of maybe like old sheets, or curtains or fabric that you find laying around. So she actually led workshops for young people about how to sew, how to embroider, how to put buttons on, things like that - how to alter clothing. And she held a sustainable fashion show that sold out both years. 

Hannah Brainard

Wow. 

Jennifer Torrance

We had 21 students the first year, and I think around the same number the second year, but 20 or 21 students, the second year who competed in the fashion show, and she and her team found local Pittsburgh artists and textile workers and nonprofit coordinators to come in and actually judge the show. And so we had winners in three different categories. The categories changed both years but it was along the lines with creativity and construction of the material,  wearability, he most like trash used - like the “trashiest outfit.” And that was incredible.  We have people already emailing us this year being like “Are you doing a fashion show? We want to be part of it,” because it's just so much fun. It brings awareness to the issue in such a fun way. And it teaches skills that then you can continue on and carry on with you in life.

This year, they're adding a sustainable art component as well, because so many students are interested in art. And there's so many neat things you can do with art and sustainability. So I'm looking forward to what they planned for this year. 

Hannah Brainard 

That's fantastic. Another episode of the podcast is with Rachel Rearick from Contemporary Craft.

Jennifer Torrance 

That’s amazing!

Hannah Brainard 

They just had an exhibit - and now the name of the exhibit is escaping me, but essentially climate focused and talking about the materials used and all sorts of things that brought attention to it. So art definitely has a big space in this conversation. And I saw this Venn diagram, I wish that I could source it, but it was essentially how to find your spot in the climate movement. It's “what you're good at,” and “what's needed,” then there's a spot in the center. So, I love your role in helping students find that - what their place is.  But, I imagine that takes a diversity of skill on your part - being able to connect people with the right sources to be able to accomplish their projects. So,I'm wondering if you could tell me a little bit more about how you work with the students to help uplift their work without, I don't know, trying to, like take over or things that maybe they see adults doing in other spheres? 

Jennifer Torrance

Yeah, I love that Venn diagram. And if you find it, send it to me and I'll share it with them. I will say that I have an incredible team at Philips, who acts as a resource for me.  I'm not doing this alone. Students come to me and say, I want to make a bike that is also a generator and can power with your phone or produce electricity. And that is like outside of my realm, right? But because I have amazing people at Phipps that I work with, I can go to someone else and say, I know nothing about this, do you have any suggestions, or even just recently, a group asked me to proofread a draft email they wanted to send out to companies. And I read the email and realized, I might not have the knowledge for this. So I did some googling, but then I also sent that email to the marketing department and to some other folks to read, and just help me make sure the language was correct.  So I'm very lucky that I am supported in my role. And I think because I'm supported in my role, I'm able to support the students.
A lot of what I do is really trying to listen and ask questions, to help them see places where there might be a gap in their project, or help them be set up for success when it comes to planning events. Because I think that's the hardest part for young people is that the adult world processes do not align with the way that young people operate.
Young people are incredible at getting things done quickly, efficiently, and getting things to happen now. And a lot of the time in the adult world, everything moves at a snail's pace. 

Hannah Brainard 

Slows down. 

Jennifer Torrance 

Everything is so slow, people's calendars are booked for months out, so if you want to have a successful event, you have to plan for that. It kind of goes against their nature. So helping them to be able to work within those confines and still have a project that is successful and meaningful to them, that's part of the challenge for sure. 

And my students are incredible at it. They pick up on what's needed very quickly, and mostly my job is just to remind them like, “alright, let's plan instead of like, one month to get this event up and running. Let's plan three. Instead of, you know, trying to get a social media post made in two hours, let's give it two days.”

Just giving them more time, and having them plan more time into their schedule so they don't get overwhelmed. We don't get overwhelmed and no one is disappointed by the outcomes.

 But a lot of what I'm doing, like you mentioned, is just helping them channel their own skills and abilities. They're so capable. They're so creative. They're so brilliant. They come up with solutions that I would have never dreamed of, and being able to help them apply that into life around them and into society, and our community, and  find a way for their project to really come to life. That's really just what my role is. It's very special, it's very rewarding. 

Hannah Brainard

I love that. That's a special role, and it takes special skills to accomplish that. Well, that's great. Kind of thinking about some of the work that goes into it. So you were saying, like the fashion show takes months of planning to put together? What's the process like as far as working with students? I think I saw that you offer a stipend for some students to take part in the committee. 

Jennifer Torrence

Yes. 

Hannah Brainard 

So, what is the process like - recruiting students and getting a diverse perspective to the table?

Jennifer Torrance 

So we do a lot of recruiting in different areas. So I'll kind of give you an overview my year. We're very lucky that now that we have this committee formed, we usually get about half of the students coming back, we do get a lot of high school seniors and they leave. I miss them.

But, a lot of what I do as far as recruiting is, first, of course, I tell the returning members, “Hey, welcome back, you have a spot, you're guaranteed to get back in. We love having you here.”

The second thing I do is I reach out to schools in under-resourced neighborhoods. And I reach out to a program that we also run through Phipps called Eco-Leader Academy, which is kind of like a summer camp internship hybrid that happens in the summer, where students come and learn about different green and environmental careers. And I try to give those students also some of the first notice of YCAC applications going out, so that if they want to apply, they can as well, because they're bringing in valuable knowledge as well. they have a relationship with us already.

And, through the Fairchild Challenge, we have a lot of good connections with teachers. So I'm able to reach out to a lot of teachers in those under-resourced neighborhoods, and make sure that those students are hearing about this opportunity first, and that they know it is paid. We offer a stipend for the year.

For regular committee members, you get $400 for the year, and you can only get $100 each quarter, if you are a team lead, which means you're a second year coming back and you want a mentorship role, then you get $600 for the year or $150 each quarter. And then if you are a youth leader, or a YCAC leader, which is only to two spots, you get paid hourly. And, those students put in so many hours. They are such hard workers, all of them are. They're all such hard workers.

Jennifer Torrance

And then after we've talked to the teachers, talked to the Eco Leaders, talked to the returning YCAC students - we’ll send out a more general, like what we call an e-blast, or an email out to like the wider community, our larger list of teachers if there's some teachers we haven't reached yet, the general public members of Phipps, things like that. 

Students submit their application, every student who applies gets an interview, because I want to make sure that if writing isn't your strongest skill, that's okay, you can still have a really valuable role in this committee, and that shouldn't preclude you from getting in. And so every student gets an interview. Sometimes they will get a second interview, if they're applying for a team leader role or a leader role.

And then from those interviews, we're able to see, like who has a passion for being here, who wants to be part of the committee. You don't get into the committee because of previous experience, you get in because of your interest in your passion, and what you can bring, as far as your creativity or your technological skills, or maybe your writing, maybe you're really good at problem solving and critical thinking. Maybe you have life experience with some of this, and that will provide a valuable perspective. 

And we offer positions in the committee, with stipends for - we have up to 25 spots, including the leaders and the team leads. After that, we will offer unpaid positions in the committee. And then if a stipend opens up for any reason, like we had a student move away, then we're able to provide that stipend to a student that didn't have one previously. But we never tell a student, “You can't be part of this.” Because, how disheartening with that be? Like, “Sorry, you can't be part of the climate movement.” I can't tell someone that because we need you all. We need all of the students to be part of the climate climate movement. So we try to include everyone as best as we can, it's a grant funded program. So we have a limited number of stipends. But we try to still include people in other ways, too.

Hannah Brainard

I love that. And like the addition of the stipend really can open doors for people who wouldn't think it was a possibility otherwise. So that's, that's fantastic. 

Jennifer Torrence 

It really helps with like transportation. I do sit down and help them find like a bus line if they're having trouble figuring out how to get here, for example. So I've tried to make it as accessible as possible. And luckily, we do have - most students are coming from different schools.  I think the least number of schools that we've had is 15. 

Hannah Brainard 

Wow. 

Jennifer Torrence 

So that's been really neat to see. 

Hannah Brainard 

That's fantastic. And do they meet typically, like weekly or what's the schedule, like, like for participation. 

Jennifer Torrance 

So, we meet two to three times a month, okay, for two hours on Monday nights. We used to go with like, first and third, Mondays or second and fourth Mondays, but then we realized, like with holidays, and with some months having five Mondays, it got too confusing. So now we just say two to three Mondays, and then I look at all of the school schedules to make sure that I can find Mondays but don't overlap a break or overlap when they have finals. Like I try to work with all of the schedules and make a -  Sometimes we get two meetings in a row. Sometimes we go three weeks between a meeting, but we always have two to three meetings in a month. 

Hannah Brainard

Thank you for listening to the Climate Series on Tech in the Arts. Be on the lookout for new episodes coming to you very soon. If you found this episode informative, educational, or inspirational. Be sure to send this to another arts, climate or technology aficionado in your life. You can let us know what you think of this podcast by visiting our website amtlab.org. That's a-m-t dash l-a-b dot o-r-g. Or you can email us at amtlabcmu@gmail.com. Follow us on Instagram at Tech in the arts or Facebook and LinkedIn at Arts Management and Technology Lab. We'll see you next time.