Q & A with Laura Nix, Director and Producer of Inventing Tomorrow

“Our student scientists are observing the damaged planet they’ve inherited, asking the right questions, and inventing solutions to create a path forward. Their commitment to action and their clarity of purpose offers a model for how we should all proceed.”

- Laura Nix, Producer and Director

What made you decide to do a film based around a high school science fair?

I was approached by my producers Diane Becker and Melanie Miller to make a doc about the science fair ISEF, so I attended the fair in Phoenix in 2016 to both film and scout and immediately realized there was a great story to tell there as most people don’t know about the fair outside of the educational and science communities. The sense of hopefulness and optimism there was infectious. I found I was the most struck however by kids I met who were doing research because of issues they were confronting at home – whether it was lack of clean drinking water, or air pollution, or some other type of environmental challenge. They weren’t doing research because it would be cool on their college application, but because they were deeply and personally motivated to change where they lived.

How did you find and decide on the students you followed?

We started by reaching out to science teachers and fair directors all over the world, and asked them to identify students who were working on projects with an environmental theme. We then spent months interviewing hundreds of kids from all over the world. We were looking for kids who were doing science with a sense of purpose and who were addressing a range of environmental issues that were local, personal and that dealt with air, water, and earth. I was specifically looking for issues that were visual, and for students who could clearly describe their project to an audience. We purposefully went beyond the scope of just climate change, so we could tell a larger story of kids engaged in environmental stewardship. It was really important to me to create an emotional and character-based film, so I was also looking for kids who had a personal story or an obstacle that was compelling, so I could show how they were working to overcome it. We wanted diversity of region, race, and religion, and a balance of girls and boys. I traveled all over the world to meet the kids we eventually decided to film, and I followed them without having any idea of what would happen once they arrived at the fair. I spent time with all of them because I believed in them as people, and because I was fascinated by their ability to pay attention and ask the right questions about the world around them.

The film emphasizes the need for ingenuity and originality. After making it, how do you feel about the potential for ingenuity and originality to save humanity from itself?

I think each of our young scientists shows us a potential path forward, and it’s really up to us to decide to empower those young people. I’m hopeful that the film will show the absolute value of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education in our culture. The key to creating innovative solutions for the future is access to high-quality STEM education. In the United States, we are not competitive with the rest of the world in that regard, and there are states where STEM education is coming under political fire. This stands in direct opposition to empowering the next generation to confront the future. We are not blocked by a lack of technological solutions; we’re blocked by political obstacles. Another thing that struck me about the kids was that they didn’t approach their work from a political standpoint at all. I find that hopeful, because they don’t see why politics should be an issue in addressing the environment. And they’re right; it’s not a political issue, it’s a moral issue.

The film documents some pretty intense environmental destruction, all within heavily populated areas, as people are continuing to go about their daily lives. What was that experience like for you and your crew?

The reality is that if you take a closer look at where you live, most places are facing environmental degradation. In some areas, you’re affected by it in a daily way. In others it might not be as visible, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find something in your own neighborhood. I was impressed by these students’ ability to observe where they were living, and identify what needed to be fixed. Whether or not they’re able to invent a solution today, their willingness to tackle the issue is what matters.

We do have options for how we as a culture can address these issues. But what really struck me about the kids was that they weren’t saying, “We need to stop this industry.” They were saying, “Industry is what gives people jobs where we live, so we need to engage in industrial remediation. There’s a way we could support our economy that doesn’t have to be so damaging.” It was interesting to me that all of the kids were invested in working within the systems that were already there. They wanted to come up with common-sense ways of making things better.

Introduction and Key Issues

Inventing Tomorrow follows young scientists from Indonesia, Hawaii, India and Mexico as they tackle some of the most complex environmental issues right in their own backyards. Each student is preparing to present and defend their original research at ISEF, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair and represent their country. Considered the “Olympics of high school science fairs,” ISEF attracts approximately 1,800 finalists from over 75 countries, regions and territories every year. Each student spends hundreds of hours on their projects, guided in their scientific quest by dedicated university mentors. Winning the competition may seem to be their immediate goal, but the heart of the story is their desire to create innovative solutions to fix immediate environmental threats in their own communities.

We follow their journey at ISEF 2017 through a week of whirlwind social activities, field trips, exploring brand new foods in the cafeteria and presenting their projects to a team of expert judges. Through this experience students forge new bonds and discover a community of peers that celebrates and shares a passion for ingenuity and a vision for the power of science to instill environmental stewardship and collective action.

Inventing Tomorrow follows their return home capturing the initial impact of this experience in their lives. Some have a renewed sense of purpose and continue their project at university, while others pursue new directions. Regardless of their path, each are assured that they’re not alone as other students around the world share their vision and commitment to environmental stewardship, collective action, and the use of science to address and solve the most pressing issues in their communities.

Inventing Tomorrow is an inspiring tool for outreach and education and will be of special interest to audiences exploring the following topics:

climate change

climate justice

cross cultural education

environmental studies

science competitions

STEM education

Groups that have discussed previous PBS and POV films relating to STEM education, environmental science, and climate change including Bill Nye: Science Guy, Thirst, The Islands and the Whales

● Groups focused on any of the issues listed in the “Key Issues” section

● High school students, youth groups, and clubs focusing on STEM related activities including science fairs and competitions

● NGOs and other organizations strengthening student involvement in science, engineering, art and design that address the problems of climate change and a warming planet

● Science and Natural History Museums and other cultural institutions fostering scientific and environmental investigation

This guide is an invitation to continue the inspiring work of the students featured in Inventing Tomorrow within your local community. Each student’s pathway to the ISEF international science fair competition offers an opportunity to pause, reflect, and engage in community dialogue on one of the most pressing issues of our time - climate change - and its far-reaching effects on current and future generations.

Climate change can be a polarizing topic within some communities, as the consequences of a warming planet are not only environmental, but political as well, and they affect local economies and individual livelihoods. As such, it is important to use evidence-based science and policy when discussing the climate and climate change.

For this reason, the content within this discussion guide and the discussion prompts aim to expand understanding and identify local environmental issues in your community and engage students and adults alike in conversations and effective action towards climate justice. Recommendations for taking action and additional resources for learning more are included at the end of this guide.

The Discussion Guide includes:

● Background materials on the student scientists and their mentors

● General discussion questions and prompts to engage in thoughtful and informed conversations prior to and following the film

● Resources to inform and inspire communities to engage and support scientific ingenuity, encourage innovation, and promote environmental stewardship.

Watching INVENTING TOMORROW supports and prepares:

● Communities actively engaged in sustainability efforts and addressing climate change

● Educators seeking to enrich STEM and STEAM classes, environment and sustainability curricula, and global affairs and current events programs through the use of documentary film and storytelling, and

● Students looking to understand the importance and power of science and recognizing that youth environmental stewardship and involvement in science, technology, and engineering is critical to building a better world.

Visit the film website at www.InventingTomorrowMovie.com.

Biographies of Student Scientists and Project Description

Jared Goodwin - Age at Filming: 15, Hilo, Hawaii, USA
Project: Arsenic Contamination Through Tsunami Wave Movement in Hawaii: Investigating the Concentration of Heavy Metals in the Soil from the 1960 Hilo, Hawaii Tsunami.

Jared passionately documents his love for his home of Hawaii through nature photography. His project studies the contamination of a local pond where arsenic was dumped by a company for nearly 30 years. Inspired by his family, who survived two major tsunamis in Hilo, he developed a new model to study tsunami debris patterns. The work is important to the community because the debris includes arsenic, and his model could potentially track arsenic disbursement into local neighborhoods’ soil and water sources. He wants to use his project to motivate state officials to create more accurate safety measures for land use zoning.

Sahithi Pingali – Age at Filming: 16, Bangalore, INDIA
Project: An Innovative Crowd-Sourcing Approach to Monitoring Fresh-Water Bodies

After seeing the lake behind her home burst into flames, Sahithi decided to combine her love for science and social activist skills to create an innovative method for citizens to gather and share data about the severe water pollution in Bangalore. In order to protect her local lakes, she is developing technological solutions to amplify citizen voices in an effort to stop the dumping of raw sewage into the watershed.

Shofi Latifa Nuha Anfaresi & Intan Utami Putri - Age at Filming: 16, Bangka, INDONESIA
Project: Bangka’s Tin Sea Sand - Fe3O4 as A Removal of Pb(II) Ions in By-Product of Tin Ore Processing (Tailing)

Nuha and Intan live on an island in Indonesia called Bangka, which is the world’s 2nd largest source of tin ore. The young women have seen legal and illegal tin mining expand to the point where the previously bright blue waters around their home have faded to brown, and they have observed the local fish and coral reefs dying. They are developing a filter that would process the effluents from the dredging process to protect the fragile oceanic ecosystem of their island, allowing the local fish supply to flourish again.

Fernando Miguel Sánchez Villalobos, Jesús Alfonso Martínez Aranda, Jose Manuel Elizade Esparaza - Age at Filming: 17, 17, 18, Monterrey, MEXICO
Project: Photocatalytic Ceramic Paint to Purify Air

Fernando, Jesus, and José live in one of the most polluted cities in Latin America: Monterrey, Mexico. After a lifetime of riding diesel-powered public buses that exposed them to harmful pollutants, they decided to try and address local air quality as well as global warming. One of the team members holds a part-time job to support his family, and the whole team must ride a bus several hours to meet with their university mentor. They invented a photocatalytic paint that can remove two pollutants that contribute to global warming from the air: sulphur dioxide and titanium dioxide. The first in their families to attend university, the three friends were ecstatic to visit the United States when they attended ISEF.

Student Mentors

Dr. Steve Lundblad, (USA), Chair & Professor, Geology Department
University of Hawaii, Hilo
-Current work includes Sedimentary Geology, Geochemistry, Geoarchaeology.

Marcela del Rocío Rosas del Real, (Mexico), Chemistry Advisor
UANL Preparatory No. 16
-Current work as Professor Technical Secondary School No.67 and in general baccalaureate, progressive bilingual baccalaureate and distance general baccalaureate.

Dr. TV Ramachandra, (India) Professor, Centre for Ecological Sciences
Indian Institute of Sciences
-Current work includes Coordinator of Energy and Wetlands Research Group (EWRG), Convener of Environmental Information System (ENVIS) at Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES). During the past twenty years he has established an active school of research in the area of energy and environment. See archive http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy.

Dr. Rudi Subagja, (Indonesia) Supervisor
Research Center for Metallugy & Materials
-Current work includes extraction metallurgy

A Brief History of the International Science and Engineering Fair[1] (ISEF)

The International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) is the largest pre-college science competition in the world. Initially established in 1950 as the National Science Fair in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the competition was organized and run by Society for Science & the Public. Eight years later this fair transitioned into an international competition as finalists came from Canada, Germany, and Japan. Almost twenty years later in 1997 Intel, a Silicon Valley California based company inventor of the microprocessor and today one of the world’s leading manufacturers of semiconductors, microchips, and other communications systems for Apple, Lenovo, HP, and Dell, came on as the leading title sponsor for ISEF.

Every year in May ISEF rotates between Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and Phoenix as host cities. Thousands of volunteers are needed to run a successful fair which include judges for the students and the running of the Education Outreach Day where up to 3,000 local middle and high school students visit the finalists and hear their presentations.

ISEF is open to all students around the globe in grades 9-12 who have competed and won in an Intel ISEF affiliated science fair. Currently there are affiliated fairs in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and more than 75 countries, regions, and territories. Each student’s or teams’ research project must contain no more than 12 months of continuous research. For a student to have the opportunity to attend ISEF, they have already competed on many levels and are presenting their research project and findings after going through a rigorous review process to qualify.

Once at ISEF each entry is judged at least four times in one of twenty-two different categories. There is a full slate of cash and scholarships given in 600 individual and team awards. Each category students are awarded first ($3,000), second ($1,500), third ($1,000), and fourth ($500) place with the top winner of ISEF receiving $75,000 award.

There are numerous notable ISEF Alumni in the fields of science, engineering, politics and more. See their stories here.

[1] Background excerpted from https://www.societyforscience.org/mission-and-history.

Immediately after the film, people will be feeling a range of emotions. Take a moment for people to collect their thoughts and emotions. You may want to pose several general questions such as:

• Did you find these stories inspiring? Why or why not?
• Did you find these stories challenging or difficult? How?

After audiences have had the opportunity to begin a discussion you may consider these questions to continue the conversation:

• In Inventing Tomorrow we meet students from India, Indonesia, Hawaii, and Mexico. What do you know about environmental issues facing these places?
• How can science, engineering and art inform environmental protection and climate justice?
• What were the different obstacles the students faced when working on their research or presenting at ISEF?
• What project was most compelling to you? Why?
• What are some similarities between the different projects?
• What cultural issues did the teams experience?
• How are the communities of each student similar? Different?
• Why were the students inspired to start a science project?

Nuha Anfaresi, age 16, from Bangka, Indonesia

“The waste from the mining poisons the water with lead. The fish, coral, and plankton are all dying. But we can’t stop tin mining in Bangka because the world needs more and more tin. It’s in all of our electronics. So we have to find a way to reduce the lead in mining waste. We’re tin consumers too. We hope to find our solution with science. . . . Nature is precious and we want to restore it.”

(After ISEF) “When I discussed it [her filter] with the judges, they said it is better to stay with this simple prototype first. The judges like my posters, but they said in your presentation you have to explain that your invention can be applied around the world.”

Jesús Alfornso Martínez Aranda, age 17, Monterrey, Mexico
“If we can’t stop industrial activity, at least we can come up with ways to help the environment.”

Discussion Prompts:

● How do we find a balance between commercial needs and the environment?

● What are other ideas that come to mind that could help solve the problem of tin mining and degradation of the ocean surrounding Nuha’s home?

● What larger ideas about science and invention are illustrated in Nuha’s reflection upon her return home to Bangka?

Sahithi Pingali, 16 Bangalore, India
“I started more on the activism side. But I found it really hard to get the kind of data I needed regarding what pollution is actually happening, which is why I got into science.”

“Water and the earth, we all share them. With the environment, you see the same issues repeated across the world. It’s inevitably our job as the next generation to tackle this. The people who are approaching this through the eye of science are the people who can fix it and who are going to fix it.”

“When you look at like kids, I think in developing countries they get more connected to the environmental issues.”

“Bangalore was once known as the city of 1,000 lakes, but now it’s known as the Silicon Valley of India, and now there’s only around 93 lakes.”

Discussion Prompts:

● What words come to mind to describe Sahithi and her project and commitment?

● What is the connection between science and activism?

● Why does Sahithi think it’s important for the next generation to tackle environmental issues?

● Why might kids in developing countries get more involved in environmental issues?

Jared Goodwin, Hilo, Hawaii
“Growing up I always heard the terms ‘arsenic’, ‘contamination’ and ‘dangerous’, but I was never really told how it got in the soil.”

“Well grandma, if it weren’t for you I wouldn’t have got into this project.”

Discussion Questions

● Why is the relationship we see between Jared, his family, and the environment so important? Why is his project so personal?

● Is a personal relationship to a research topic necessary, important, or a distraction?

Fernando Miguel Sanchez Villalobos Monterrey, Mexico
“Monterrey has lots of problems with air pollution. But it really affected me the most when my uncle died from a respiratory disease.”

Discussion Questions

● Why might kids in developing countries get more involved in environmental issues?

● What recommendations would you make for companies or the government to deal with pollution?

● Explain the connection between pollution and health.

Today, millions of students worldwide compete each year in local and school-sponsored science fairs; the winners of these events go on to participate in international science competitions around the world. Inventing Tomorrow shows how education, specifically STEM education, offers youth the opportunity to make global change and have a positive impact on the world.

Think about your own community and the environmental issues that impact your life. Share these questions as a step to generate ideas and begin the process of inspiring experimentation and design.

● What is the issue that you are most interested in, and why?

● What can you do to make a difference in your community to reduce environmental damage?

● What environmental problems are specific to your community?

● What environmental problems are more global in reach?

● What kind of data could you collect that would be helpful in solving the environmental issue you identified?

● What technology would you invent to solve an urgent environmental problem?

● Who might you collaborate with to find your solution?

● How would you convince people of the importance of solving the problem you identified?

Register to Vote. According to the Environmental Voter Project, over 15 million registered voters who care about environmental issues don’t make it to the polls.

Learn more about The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), a program for Science & the Public (the Society) is the world’s largest international pre-college science competition

Science Magazine: Article discussing the importance of Science mentorships.

PBS in the Classroom: Helping High Schoolers Find Research and STEM Field Opportunities

Stay tuned for the Inventing Tomorrow mentorship network!

The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF): The Society for Science and the Public is the world’s largest international high-school science competition and is the science fair of all science fairs.

This resource of the Society for Science and the Public shares 10 TED Talks by student alumni, covering everything from how to get to Mars to how to build an affordable water filter.

Watch a TED Talk by Beau Lotto and Amy O’Toole, “Science is for Everyone, Even Kids”

Science News for Students: This comprehensive website covers all things science including articles and ideas by students from Intel ISEF competitions.

Society for Science and the Public: This website allows you to research ISEF projects. Type the last name of the finalist to see their project abstract and what they have won (e.g., “Pingali” for Sahithi Pingali’s info).

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)

Science’s Next Frontier: It’s Civic Engagement