Science Leadership Program

Hudson River Park’s Science Leadership Program (SLP) is a paid research internship for high school and undergraduate students at Hudson River Park. Since 2018, SLP has leveraged the expertise and mentorship power from a collaboration of NYC STEM institutions including Hudson River Park’s River Project, City College of New York, Columbia University, The Young Women’s Leadership School, and The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. The program is founded on a tiered mentorship model which utilizes near-peer mentoring as a strategy for fostering community, learning science skills and developing STEM leaders. SLP is hosted each summer at Hudson River Park and combines hands-on field science and STEM career skill-building led by the Park’s River Project and partners. Students conduct authentic research, using the Park as a field lab, to explore and gain technical skills in geoscience and marine biology.

Over the course of six weeks, about ten high school students work alongside two undergraduate mentors to conduct student-led research projects, culminating in a scientific poster and final presentation. Each week, the program runs from Monday through Thursday (4.5 hours/day) and students develop through conducting field research, analyzing samples, designing a scientific poster and participating in STEM leadership workshops. Park research projects such as oyster monitoring, fish ecology and sediment sampling are complimented with workshops on topics like science communication, goal setting, resume writing and data illustration to prepare students for next steps in STEM. The program invites high school students to return and grow in leadership, becoming peer mentors both in the field and at workshops. SLP aims to increase representation in the STEM field by providing a multi-year immersive internship opportunity for BIPOC, often female identifying, students as they explore and self-define their academic and professional futures.

Benefits:
- Increased competency in technical science skills, science communication and research project implementation.
- Exposure to a variety of fieldwork based projects in Hudson River Park, including the Pier 40 Wetlab aquarium, Pier 26 Tide Deck, the Gansevoort Peninsula shoreline and floating docks throughout the Park.
- Connection to near-peer mentors and diverse professionals at several career levels in the NYC STEM field.
- Access to cohort which offers a supportive culture where interns are encouraged to learn and grow together through the program.
- Instruction via a series of workshops on career and personal development including public speaking and STEM identity development.
- Visits to different STEM organizations and sites including City College, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, New York Academy of Sciences and the American Museum of Natural History.