This proposal is a request for a Youth-based project that targets 120 urban high school youth (grades 9-11) in IT-based research in genetics and astrophysics, using the resources of the American Museum of Natural History(AMNH, public), Rockefeller University (private) and other institutions in the five boroughs of New York City. The recruitment plan targets cohort groups of 40 students per year including females and minorities with the physcially challenged students as a special target population. Students will be selected based on their passion and commitment. The project builds and extends on a prior pilot project that involved high school students in educational programs in the areas of genetics and astrophysics. Through these program partnerships have been created and will be part of the project. Students will learn to use advanced information technology as used in current scientific research rather than working through a series of classroom examples. The goal is for students to gain experiences with IT tools, develop specific scientific research skills, learn science concepts and increase awareness of and commitment to STEM areas in college and/or professional life.
