Federal Grant Supports Summer Fellowships for Maine High School Students
Interns will conduct research in environmental health science
The Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory has received a five-year federal grant to fund summer research fellowships for local high school students. The $228,000 grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences will give Maine students the opportunity to conduct research projects in environmental health science alongside MDIBL scientists, including those who come from leading research institutions around the world to conduct marine biomedical research at MDIBL each summer.
The STEER (Short Term Educational Experience for Research) grant will allow MDIBL to offer its current high school program to more Maine students, especially those who represent the first generation in their family to attend college. The STEER fellowships will focus on “Pathways of Chemical Action in Human Disease” and draw on expertise in MDIBL’s Center for Comparative Toxicology and its Comparative Toxicogenomics Database.
Patricia Hand, MDIBL’s Administrative Director, says “We are delighted to have this support for our programs and pleased that the National Institutes of Health recognizes the importance of hands-on research experience for Maine students. High school students bring wonderful energy and excitement to the Lab, and we are pleased that we can introduce them to our outstanding research community.”
Participating students will spend eight weeks working at MDIBL. After an orientation period, they will design and carry out an individual research project with their mentor, an MDIBL investigator. They will also participate in a journal club, attend scientific lectures, and present a final paper on their research. Most importantly, they will participate in an informal, close-knit, and highly collaborative scientific community.
In the past ten years, over 120 high school students have conducted summer research at MDIBL. Though the high school program began in 1990, this is the first federal grant solely in support of that program. It is one of only six STEER grants awarded nationwide.
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