The PromoScience program of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC/CRSNG) supports hands-on learning experiences for young students and their teachers. These funds (PROSC/501681-2016 and PROSC/545320-2019) awarded to PI Dr. Allison Kermode at SFU (2016-2022) are being used by the team to generate state-of-the-art educational resources for students and teachers – 360-degree virtual reality (VR) films – surrounding science-based (wildlife and ecological) themes that highlight the pristine forests, oceans and coastline of the Great Bear Rainforest and Sea of BC. The VR films are being shared with school youth along with other resources to promote science- and cultural- literacy and to provide inspiration for our Innovation Challenge Contest. A special priority for our target audiences encompasses youth that are typically underrepresented in science – at-risk-youth, First Nations- youth, and young girls.