Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades
Ecology, Environmental Science
June - August
Lamont-Doherty's Secondary School Field Research Program (SSFRP) brings high school students, science teachers and undergrads to the Lamont campus each summer for six weeks of field and laboratory research. Once on campus, the students and teachers are treated as early-career scientists, and conduct field research with Columbia University researchers as their mentors.
This field and laboratory science internship program engages high school students in authentic, rigorous research projects. The primary research site is the Piermont Marsh, which is part of the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve, where students conduct a wide range of environmental and ecological studies, including sediment accumulation, groundwater chemistry, nutrient cycling, bacterial levels, fish species, fish feeding patterns, invasive and native plant distributions, and more, while working in teams under the mentorship of Columbia researchers and technicians. There are also additional lab placement opportunities during the summer in LDEO and Earth Institute laboratories.
Benefits:
Students receive a monetary stipend
Must be in the 10th, 11th or 12th grade
Must be enrolled in one of the partner schools (see website for an updated list of partner schools)
Each participating school has assigned a science teacher to act as liaison with the program, typically someone who is also participating in the field work
The teachers are responsible for selecting students to participate along with them
For information not found on the websites, please feel free to reach out to the following contact: