H.S. students discover science

Though more than 15,000 people participate in a variety of summer programs at the university each year, the 26 high school students who take part in the Summer Science Institute through July 26 will discover first-hand what research can offer to them.

Established in 1990, SSI invites minority and underserved students from around the country to conduct research in the biological sciences while gaining a glimpse of college life. Since its beginning, about 300 students have graduated from the program and a third have enrolled at UW–Madison for college. Nearly 200 UW–Madison graduate and undergraduate students have served as SSI instructors.

While the majority of this year’s SSI class comes from Wisconsin cities including Milwaukee, Madison, Tigerton, Green Bay and Sheboygan, one student – who plans to enroll at UW–Madison in the fall and who participated in SSI last summer – will travel all the way from Puerto Rico.

During the seven-week program, students work closely with peers, college mentors and faculty. For most students, the mornings will be spent with their research groups either in the lab or the field studying animal behavior, environmental biology, physiology, genetics, human psychology or microbiology; afternoons include courses in life sciences communication, history of science, data analysis and technology.

Returning students, of which there are eight this year, spend most of the day conducting research. Both groups meet regularly for evening lectures and peer discussions. Students live in a campus dorm.

The goal of the program, says SSI director Robert Bohanan, is to enable students to explore their interests in science. “By being here, students gain a realistic idea of what science is like, as well as all of its different possibilities.”

For example, Shawn Marchand, a UW–Madison senior who participated in the program in 1998 and 1999, learned through her SSI experience that she prefers to write about science; she’s majoring in life science communications. Bohanan says that more than half of the program’s graduates who have gone on to college have chosen a science-related major.

Mark Cook, a UW–Madison professor of animal sciences who has hosted several students in his lab over the years, says: “The summer program is an excellent recruitment tool that exposes kids to the scientific world and gives them a feel for Madison and what college life is like here.” He adds that one of the SSI students he hosted is still working in his lab – this time as a UW–Madison undergrad.

The program is sponsored by the UW System, the Center for Biology Education at UW–Madison and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. There are no program costs to SSI participants. For more information about SSI, contact Robert Bohanan, (608) 265-2125, rbohanan@facstaff.wisc.edu.