Reports: SE

49694-SE ACS Project SEED

Cecilia Hernandez, American Chemical Society

The American Chemical Society Project SEED offers high school students from economically disadvantaged families the chance to work in academic, government, and industrial labs with a volunteer scientist mentor on college-level research that exposed them to the many disciplines of the chemical sciences for eight weeks during the summer. SEED students work with cutting-edge scientific equipment and learn the highest standards of safety and professional behavior. The program helps these students at a critical point in their educational career.  In 41 years of service the program has had a significant impact on the lives of nearly 9,000 students and their families. By participating in Project SEED, students gain much more than scientific knowledge. They discover their ability to learn new skills, building confidence in their potential for the future. The program offers one or two summers of research with stipends. Annual evaluations show that Project SEED continues to be successful in stimulating students’ interest in science; 90% of SEED participants plan to pursue higher education.

At the 238th ACS Fall National Meeting in Washington, DC, over 75 students from the 2009 summer program presented their research at ACS Sci-Mix poster session.  In 2009, 321 students participated in the Summer I and 113 students in the Summer II program. Of the 434 students, 20 were supported by the ACS Petroleum Research Fund (PRF) at 20 institutions.

ACS PRF Participating Institutions

Boston University, MA

Drake University, IA

George Mason University, VA

Georgetown University, DC

Georgia College & State University, GA

Idaho State University, ID

Illinois State University, IL

Metropolitan State College of Denver, CO

Michigan State University, MI

Montclair State University, NJ

New York University, NY

North Carolina State University, NC

Rutgers University, NJ

St. John’s University, NY

University of California , Davis, CA

University of Cincinnati, OH

University of North Carolina at Charlotte, NC

University of San Diego, CA

University of Vermont, VT

Youngstown State University, OH