CEET Summer Programs

Summer Programs

Teen Research and Education in Environmental Science (TREES)

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Teen Research and Education in Environmental Science (TREES)
Tuition-free eight-week research program

June 24 to August 9, 2013

The difference between students and researchers is that the former are consumers of knowledge, while the latter are producers of knowledge. The transition from a student to a researcher is usually carried out through mentoring programs. After classroom training, there is a long period of individual mentoring in graduate school and then, in many fields, yet more mentoring in postdoctoral training. Most research scientists cite their first experience in a lab as motivating them to choose a career in research. To provide that first experience to a young group, in the summer of 2007, the Center for Excellence in Environmental Toxicology, Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania launched a community outreach education program for high school students called the Teen Research and Education in Environmental Science (TREES) summer program. The TREES program is a unique hands-on research experience for high school students that introduce them to laboratory science. About eight students are recruited each year from local high schools for the program. They are taught by graduate student mentors, alumni high school student mentors and faculty members who guide the students one-on-one or in the small group.

The industrial revolution brought about many changes ranging from industrial scale farming to automobiles, computers, and cell phones, to revolutionary medicines. But these changes have taken a heavy toll on the planet, leading to the depletion of natural resources, the accumulation of toxic compounds, and antibiotic-resistant infectious diseases. The next generation will have to deal with novel energy sources and unexpected toxic exposures. Each summer, program participants will learn about some of these problems, how they can be measured, and most importantly, get a glimpse of how we can fix them.

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Penn Undergraduate Environmental Health Scholars Program (STEER)

Interest in environmental health and the need for increased research in this field has steadily grown during the past decade. To address this need, the University of Pennsylvania has received an NIEHS award for summer internships for selected undergraduate students (Short-Term Educational Experiences for Research (STEER) grant). Ten weeks of summer activities will expose students to the field of environmental health science through mentorship, coursework, and field experience. This program represents a collaboration across the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology, the Center for Public Health Initiatives and multiple schools and faculty at Penn. The program provides didactic experiences in environmental and public health and research mentorship opportunities in a variety of areas of environmental exposures and health effects. Each summer, six internships will be awarded to Penn undergraduate students who will work one-on-one with mentors on projects that they choose and design. Each intern will receive $3,500 for the 10 week internship. [more details...]

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