Several current and former GW E&EM Program students are actively working with the Washington, DC-based program called EnvironMentors. Current maser’s student Saleem Shaikh, E&EM alumnus Cara Lalley (now with the Office of Science and Technology at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), and E&EM Professor Jonathan Deason were activly involved with EnvironMentors this past semester.
EnvironMentors is a science and environment - based mentoring and college access program which seeks to interest and prepare minority high school students for college degree programs and careers environmental science fields. The program, which is part of the National Council for Science and the Environment, matches committed individuals with backgrounds in science and the environment with Washington, D.C. high school students in one-to-one mentoring relationships. Once matched, students and mentors develop inquiry-based, environmental science research projects on topics of the students' concern and choosing over the course of the academic year. The program culminates with the EnvironMentors Fair held annually in mid-May during which the high school students present their projects to judges. Students who do well in the program are awarded scholarships at an EnvironMentors Awards Ceremony.
The EnvironMentors university chapter model involves graduate and undergraduate students as mentors working under the guidance of a faculty member. Through this model, EnvironMentors high school students get greater exposure to the natural resource and environmental degree programs offered by the university through meeting with their mentors in their mentors office, meeting other college students in these programs, making use of university library resources and so on.
According to EnvironMentors Director Susan Carlson, the program has been in operation for 15 years and has matched over 2,000 D.C. high school students with mentors and guided teams in the development of environmental science research projects. As of the 2006-07 academic year, 100% of EnvironMentors seniors graduated from high school, and all seniors were admitted to four-year universities (as compared to the D.C. college admissions rate of 17.5%.)
Further information on EnvironMentors can be seen at www.EnvironMentors.org
Click here to see the EnvironMentors flyer for quick program details
