California Space Grant Consortium affiliate UC Davis runs AggieMentors, a college-access program that is part of EnvironMentors, a national program of the National Council for Science and the Environment.

The primary goal of AggieMentors is to prepare socio-economically challenged high school students for university degree programs and opportunities in Environmental Sciences, Resource Management and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math).

Over the course of nine months, these high school students are mentored by graduate and undergraduate student mentors through rigorous Environmental Science or STEM hands-on research projects, varying in scope. The high school students also participate in educational field trips dovetailing with the training received under their mentors at UC Davis. The students participate in a workshop series culminating in participation in the competitive EnvironMentors Fair held at UC Davis and Woodland High School every April. Students selected through this competition advance to the national EnvironMentors Fair in Washington DC to compete for college scholarships and monetary prizes.

This past year (2013) 12 high school and 15 college students were involved in the program. The program managers are pleased to note that one of these high school students was accepted to UC Davis for the undergraduate program in Fall 2013. This student’s research project was on the spectral responses of plant nitrogen uptake using different fertilizers, a project receiving campuswide recognition at the local science fair in May 2013.

For more information on the AggieMentors program at UC Davis please click here.

For more information on EnvironMentors, please click here.