The CSRA High School Student Science Research Program is a 6 week summer program for rising high school juniors and seniors from the 18 county Savannah River Area of South Carolina and Georgia. This program is an expansion of a pilot program recently completed this past summer. For the proposed program, participants will be 18 highly motivated, talented students who show a strong interest in the sciences and who have been nominated by two teachers (one of whom is a science teacher). For 6 weeks students will carry out an independent project, but on a collaborative basis with individual scientists who will act as mentors. Each student will learn various aspects of research and experience first hand active research and development activities. The intent is to allow the student independence in pursuing his/her project while providing sufficient supervision to ensure proper development of a sound study. The fields of study the students will choose from will be microbiology, ecology, environmental science, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering and computer science. At the end of the program the students will be required to write a formal report on their research project and submit it for presentation at either the Georgia or South Carolina Junior Academy of Sciences. Students will also be required to present their reports to their high school science class or science club.
