Project Seed Program Celebrates 40 years!

Hoping to expose local high school students to the exciting side of science, chemists at the University of West Florida will sponsor Project SEED on campus this summer. Offered through the American Chemical Society, Project SEED plants disadvantaged high school students in university chemistry labs across the United States.

Project SEED gives economically disadvantaged students a chance to participate in hands-on laboratory research, while exploring career opportunities in chemistry. Three local high school students will be selected to participate in the paid internship program at UWF this summer. We are currently accepting applications from all Escambia and Santa Rosa County high school students.

The students selected for UWF’s program will spend 35 hours each week working alongside a scientist mentor. Besides earning a $2,800 stipend, the students will also gain experience using high-tech lab equipment and proven research methods. In addition, they will get a taste of college-life by going through several campus orientations and working with the UWF Career Center to determine their interests and possible career paths.

Students will primarily work either in natural products chemistry, organic synthesis or analytical/environmental chemistry. One can expect to conduct chemical extractions, chemical analysis using modern spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques, organic synthetic reactions, plant tissue culture, or protein studies. In order to qualify for Project SEED, a student must be in high school and demonstrate an economic need that might otherwise prevent him or her from exploring science as a future field of study. This program encourages applications from students whose family incomes do not exceed 200% of the current Federal Poverty Guidelines based on family size
(http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/09Poverty.shtml). Project SEED will consider applications from students whose family income does not meet the eligibility listed above, if evidence is provided to the coordinator/mentor that factors which contribute to underrepresentation in the sciences exist.

Examples of such factors include the following within income guidelines:

• the student belongs to an ethnic group (African-American, Hispanic, Native American) historically underrepresented in science,
• parents/guardians did not attend college, or
• student lives in a single-parent household or is a member of a large family.

There are no openings for new students in the program. Check again in the spring of 2011 for updates. For more information about the application process, contact Dr. Pam Vaughan at pvaughan@uwf.edu. Additional details about Project SEED can be found from the ACS Website by clicking here.