Youth Stories

In this story, a YouthCARES student researcher shares the journey of their heat action project to make public transportation more just and sustainable for all students. After collecting both scientific data on carbon emissions from the school parking lot and documenting students’ perspectives, the team worked with school administrators, community members, and city officials to propose new route options. Their advocacy led to a new city bus route that now includes a stop at the school

In this story, a former YouthCARES student researcher and current mentor describes his group’s effort to reduce school lunch waste. By performing cost–benefit and greenhouse-gas analyses, conducting community ethnography, and learning from a neighboring school, the group presented recommendations to the district administrator on transition to more sustainable paper packaging. The work continued with the next cohort and they were successful with the paper packaging implementation—highlighting how youth-led, sustained action can drive system-level change.

In this story, a YouthCARES student researcher shares his experience with the 2020 Silverado Fire and how it sparked a commitment to act. His team created a restoration plot at the school’s burned areas and planted native plants to support biodiversity and reduce future fire risk. Working alongside the Irvine Ranch Conservancy and drawing on Indigenous knowledge—treating Earth as teacher—the team combined science and cultural wisdom and turned eco-anxiety into hope and local action.

YouthCARES student researchers share how research can empower youth to make real-world changes. The students began their research journey by first identifying a research question and conducting interviews, then coding transcription and analyzing case profiles, and finally presenting their findings at UC Irvine. They shared valuable insights from their research and offered advice for educators and community members to support youth to engage in meaningful climate justice education.

This story brings together voices from two YouthCARES cohorts - current student researchers and alumni who are now mentors. They describe how they grew from novices to researchers and mentors. They learned that good research means learning with and from others—and that it’s okay not to have everything figured out. The experience helped shape their career aspirations, ranging from public policy, education, to research. Collectively they show the power of youth voices in climate action.