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UW diversity outreach programs need summer research opportunities

In an effort to create earlier engagement of targeted minority students into areas of research and inquiry, CALS Undergraduate Programs and Services is working with two programs on campus, the PEOPLE Program and the Summer Science Institute (SSI), to create summer research experiences for students who participate in these programs. The PEOPLE Program is the pre-eminent recruitment program on the UW-Madison campus, serving over 1,300 students from targeted populations around the state. SSI is a program that exposes students to scientific inquiry and helps them learn how to create and develop research questions.

CALS Undergraduate Programs and Services is seeking faculty, staff and graduate students who are willing to provide space and an opportunity for students in these programs to experience research or life in a lab.

Two summers ago, two students involved in the PEOPLE program participated in the Fox Lab in Biochemistry. Last summer, ten students were placed in various labs around the CALS campus. The student feedback on these experiences was very positive, and this year more students interested in STEM fields are expected.

CALS Undergraduate Programs and Services is looking for people willing to take in two or more students to provide an internship experience that allows the students hands-on training in the research and structure of the lab (at a level suitable for a high school student). The students would receive supplemental instruction from PEOPLE and SSI that complements the internship experience. Both programs provide stipends to the students, so volunteers would simply need to provide supervision and tasks for the students to complete.

If you are interested in providing a summer research experience, please contact Tom Browne in CALS Undergraduate Programs and Services at tbrowne@cals.wisc.edu. An informational meeting will be held for interested parties in April. To learn more about the PEOPLE Program, please visit their site at http://peopleprogram.wisc.edu/index.html. For more information about SSI, please visit their site at http://www.wisc.edu/cbe/ssi/index.html.