Summer Research for High School Students

Project SEED- Summer Research Internship for Economically Disadvantaged High School Students

The Booksh lab is dedicated to providing research opportunities for underrepresented groups in science. In addition to our summer research experience for undergraduates (REU) dedicated to students with disabilities, we are also active participants in the American Chemical Society’s project SEED.  Through SEED, the Booksh lab hosts 1 to 3 local high school students every summer for 12 weeks where students get hands-on practice in a chemistry lab. They are paired with a graduate student mentor and taught various laboratory skills that align with that graduate student’s project. In the recent years, the SEED students have been primarily working on the edible oils project preforming titrations and collecting Raman spectra. However, students spend a little bit of time with each graduate student, so they are exposed to all the projects within the lab. The 12 weeks concludes with a poster session and written report providing the students with great opportunities presenting and defending their scientific data.