Kenneth Davis, left, professor of atmospheric and climate science in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, discusses a potential link for future research with high school student Isadora Zuo at Penn State's EnvironMentors Research Symposium on April 26.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s chapter of EnvironMentors held its annual research symposium on April 26 at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center at Penn State University Park. The EnvironMentors program partners high school students with faculty and undergraduate student mentors in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to plan and conduct environmental research projects. Students then present their results at the annual symposium.
“This event was a great experience, and it's not something you usually get to do in high school," said Sofia Smith, a second-year high school student who has been involved in the program throughout this school year. Smith's research examined carbon dioxide fluctuations, which can occur monthly, per day or even within an hour.
The symposium featured posters outlining details of the students’ research. Parents, faculty and other students were able to hear the students explain their work, discussing both their findings and why they chose their particular research problems. The event also featured awards, including best poster, best presenter and the top three overall projects.
“The event was a great success,” said Mia Ray, program coordinator for Penn State’s EnvironMentors program and a human research technologist in the medicine and public health sciences departments at the Penn State College of Medicine. “Seeing the students so excited about the knowledge they developed throughout the program and through their research projects was awesome. It was also so exciting to see the students presenting the posters and feeling great about what they accomplished, and the parents being so proud of their children.”
Judges for the symposium included Ray along with Peter Buck, director for education at Penn State Sustainability; Mary Ann Smith, lecturer of biology at Penn State Schuylkill; and Kenneth Davis, professor of atmospheric and climate science in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. The judges evaluated each poster’s efficacy at presenting the information and the students’ skillfulness in explaining its contents and communicating their findings to those in attendance.
“It was a great experience,” said Ariam Gebrezgi, a fourth-year student at Harrisburg High School Sci Tech Campus who will be an first-year student at Penn State next fall. It is also her third year with the EnvironMentors program, and every year she has further elaborated on her project. “I love conducting research and seeing other people’s research, so this symposium was a great way to close off my three years in the EnvironMentors program.”
The featured speaker for the symposium, Gregory Jenkins, also served as a judge. Jenkins is a professor in the Penn State Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science and the director of the Alliance for Education, Sciences, Engineering and Development in Africa (AESEDA). Throughout the event, he socialized with the high school students, learning about each of their interests in detail and asking them additional questions about their research. He also suggested further research ideas for the students, noting trends in their graphs that they may not have recognized.
“I feel like this is how you build community,” Jenkins said. “These students come from everywhere, and that’s an amazing thing for me to witness. To see the undergrads and faculty members supporting the high school students demonstrates a true sense of community in a time where everything feels fractured. In here, we all feel like family.”
To see the undergrads and faculty members supporting the high school students demonstrates a true sense of community in a time where everything feels fractured. In here, we all feel like family.—Gregory Jenkins , professor of meteorology and atmospheric science
