Kelley Lê: A beacon of change in environmental education and advocacy
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By Carol Jean Tomoguchi-Perez
May 14, 2024 In celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we highlight the remarkable journey and contributions of Kelley Lê, a first-generation scholar and educator deeply committed to climate and environmental justice. As the former director of the UCI Science Project and executive director of the Environmental Climate Change Literacy Project (ECCLPs), Lê’s story is not just one of academic excellence but of profound personal and communal resilience. Growing up close to pollution sources in Gardena and Hawthorne, Calif., Lê’s early life was marked by a keen awareness of environmental injustice. This experience, inherited from a legacy of multigenerational exposure to pollution, shaped her understanding of the socio-environmental dynamics affecting communities of color. It wasn’t until later in life that she recognized these issues as a result of deliberate design, leading her to a path of education and advocacy. |
Kelley Lê
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Lê’s passion for uplifting communities through education initially took her back to her community as a high school chemistry teacher. Integrating social justice into her science curriculum, she empowered her students to see science as a critical tool for solving community issues. This approach proved effective across diverse teaching environments, reflecting a universal yearning among students to make meaningful change in their communities and the broader climate emergency.
“I noticed that regardless of where I taught – Los Angeles or Orange County, and across socioeconomic or school status – what students were most interested in was opportunities to learn about issues of injustice within their own communities, the climate emergency, and ways that they could personally take action to be part of the change,” Lê said. “My heritage deepens my commitment because it was my lived reality, and now that I have the opportunity to push the system to amplify and center on historically marginalized voices, I feel it is both a privilege and a responsibility to ensure that we make more authentically inclusive spaces.”
While pursuing her dissertation at UCLA, she used the research opportunity to find a framework that could support the integration of the ethical and social dimensions of the climate crisis in the context of science, because she knew there wasn’t a way to teach climate change without addressing the hardships and challenges that historically marginalized communities experience that will be further exacerbated due to climate impacts.
“After interviewing nearly 50 Los Angeles community partners, scientists, faculty, staff, and national leaders, I created a program to show that it’s possible to take on climate change through a social justice lens,” Lê said. “I even taught it to students and coached California teachers for a couple of years before I formally stepped away from the classroom, so I have firsthand knowledge of both the challenges and opportunities of these approaches.”
Her leadership in ECCLPs has led to the creation of a pioneering framework for 21st-century climate change education. This framework emphasizes student agency, interdisciplinary learning, and intersectionality, rooted in justice and equity. The framework, offered for both elementary and secondary educators, encompasses ECCLPs’ “Seven Components in Lesson Design to Shift Paradigms in Climate Change Education” to advance PK-12 climate and environmental literacy, justice, and action.
Lê’s efforts extend beyond academic circles, inviting PK-12 teachers to engage with higher education, community-based partners, and national agencies to enrich climate change education. In her experience, these entities are made of very knowledgeable and passionate people who welcome engagement and are eager to offer support to teachers and students. Lê also learned during her dissertation work, while connecting with national and Los Angeles-specific agencies and specialists, everyone had a different perspective on what should be taught in climate change education. While it took Lê two years to synthesize and summarize what the experts shared, she realized that teachers don’t have the luxury of time to network and research. “If we want systemic change, we need to meet teachers where they are and understand that the system does not necessarily allow for teachers to consistently get the support they need, so we need to look at the system and ask better questions about what it will take to integrate climate change education and from what avenues,” she said.
Lê offers advice to young Asian Americans aspiring to make a difference in environmental science and educational leadership: “You are important, your voice and ideas matter, and if you ever doubt your strength or abilities, just remember that you come from a long line of resilient people. Don’t forget your ‘why’, find your affinity spaces, and make sure you celebrate your wins, no matter how small or big, so that you don’t get lost in this overwhelming movement.”
Lê stands as a testament to the impact that dedicated individuals can have on our understanding of environmental issues and our approach to solving them. Her work not only honors her heritage and lived experience, but also paves the way for a more inclusive, just, and sustainable future.
“I noticed that regardless of where I taught – Los Angeles or Orange County, and across socioeconomic or school status – what students were most interested in was opportunities to learn about issues of injustice within their own communities, the climate emergency, and ways that they could personally take action to be part of the change,” Lê said. “My heritage deepens my commitment because it was my lived reality, and now that I have the opportunity to push the system to amplify and center on historically marginalized voices, I feel it is both a privilege and a responsibility to ensure that we make more authentically inclusive spaces.”
While pursuing her dissertation at UCLA, she used the research opportunity to find a framework that could support the integration of the ethical and social dimensions of the climate crisis in the context of science, because she knew there wasn’t a way to teach climate change without addressing the hardships and challenges that historically marginalized communities experience that will be further exacerbated due to climate impacts.
“After interviewing nearly 50 Los Angeles community partners, scientists, faculty, staff, and national leaders, I created a program to show that it’s possible to take on climate change through a social justice lens,” Lê said. “I even taught it to students and coached California teachers for a couple of years before I formally stepped away from the classroom, so I have firsthand knowledge of both the challenges and opportunities of these approaches.”
Her leadership in ECCLPs has led to the creation of a pioneering framework for 21st-century climate change education. This framework emphasizes student agency, interdisciplinary learning, and intersectionality, rooted in justice and equity. The framework, offered for both elementary and secondary educators, encompasses ECCLPs’ “Seven Components in Lesson Design to Shift Paradigms in Climate Change Education” to advance PK-12 climate and environmental literacy, justice, and action.
Lê’s efforts extend beyond academic circles, inviting PK-12 teachers to engage with higher education, community-based partners, and national agencies to enrich climate change education. In her experience, these entities are made of very knowledgeable and passionate people who welcome engagement and are eager to offer support to teachers and students. Lê also learned during her dissertation work, while connecting with national and Los Angeles-specific agencies and specialists, everyone had a different perspective on what should be taught in climate change education. While it took Lê two years to synthesize and summarize what the experts shared, she realized that teachers don’t have the luxury of time to network and research. “If we want systemic change, we need to meet teachers where they are and understand that the system does not necessarily allow for teachers to consistently get the support they need, so we need to look at the system and ask better questions about what it will take to integrate climate change education and from what avenues,” she said.
Lê offers advice to young Asian Americans aspiring to make a difference in environmental science and educational leadership: “You are important, your voice and ideas matter, and if you ever doubt your strength or abilities, just remember that you come from a long line of resilient people. Don’t forget your ‘why’, find your affinity spaces, and make sure you celebrate your wins, no matter how small or big, so that you don’t get lost in this overwhelming movement.”
Lê stands as a testament to the impact that dedicated individuals can have on our understanding of environmental issues and our approach to solving them. Her work not only honors her heritage and lived experience, but also paves the way for a more inclusive, just, and sustainable future.
