A rigorous eight-week program that links academic labs and chemical industry workplaces is propelling Pittsburgh-area students into college-level studies in chemistry.
Project SEED (Summer Educational Experience for the Economically Disadvantaged), founded at Duquesne University in the summer of 2004, has graduated 25 students from a hands-on introduction to college chemistry and careers in the field. The program, in cooperation with the local chapter of the American Chemical Society, has inspired 22 of its participants to enroll at college. On August 17, two current SEED students will present their work at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society, a prestigious national research conference attended by over 30,0000 professionals.
This year’s six participants attend Sto-Rox and Carrick High Schools near Pittsburgh. In addition to lab research, the students make field trips to local companies and take college tours, meeting with admissions and financial aid counselors to learn how to navigate college entry.
“One of biggest thing they learn is that there are ways they can finance their education. They can fit in in the college environment,” says program founder and assistant professor of chemistry Jennifer Aitken. On company field trips, where they learn about careers in the field, “they learn the educational background of those they meet with, and what they had to do to get where they are.”
Aitken says that to date, 64 percent of the program’s participants have been female and 52 percent, black or biracial. Among the young black women in this year’s program is Candice Thornton, who will present her research in an ACS poster session in Washington next week. Her topic: atom transfer radical addition reaction.
Source: Jennifer Aitken
Writer: Chris O’Toole