Summer Research Opportunity

The Soil to Society Summer Research Program is an internship opportunity for motivated high school students to experience hands-on laboratory experience with a research team. Students will work in the agricultural and human health fields with leaders in research.

Students can expect to learn about scientific thinking and communication, research skills and best practices, and ethics in research. In addition, students will work on a research team where they will gain experience in discipline-specific, cutting-edge research. Students will finish the program by submitting a two-page research abstract and participating in a poster symposium.

Applications are now closed.

To be eligible for this program, you must:

Be a U.S. resident.
Be able to provide yourself transportation and housing for the designated research location.
Be currently enrolled as a 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grader.
Have a 3.5 (or equivalent) high school GPA listed on current high school transcript.

To apply for this program, you must:

Complete the Soil to Society Summer Research Intern Application.
Include a current unofficial high school transcript.
Include a signed parent/guardian waiver.
Include a signed photographic likeness consent form
Include a current resume of academic, volunteer, community service, leadership, and extracurricular activities.
Include one letter of support from a science or an ag teacher.

Learning Targets

Students will be able to…

Investigate the role of sustainable practices in agricultural and food systems on human health outcomes.
Develop scientific thinking and reasoning skills.
Apply ethical, safe, and best practices when engaging in research activities.
Collect, analyze, and interpret scientific data to inform decision making.
Communicate research efforts and results from assigned research team using written and oral communication.
Work effectively as a member of a team and collaboratively across disciplines.

Stipend and Internship Credits

Students have the option to enroll in 1-3 academic credits through Washington State University. Once the internship has concluded and students fulfill the requirements, students will receive a stipend of $1200 and their selected number of academic credits.

Students are in charge of their own housing and transportation for the duration of this internship. WSU Housing does have one residence hall in Pullman, WA open for the summer. There is no age limit for staying in university housing over the summer. For more information, including information about university meal plans, please go to https://housing.wsu.edu/residence-halls/apply/.

Program Details

Students selected as interns will spend 200-240 hours assisting a research team on a project related to the research team’s ongoing research. Upon completion of the internship, students will be asked to write a two-page research abstract. Students will also participate in a poster symposium where they will showcase their experience.

The research abstract must include a rationale with a summary of the background information and why this research was important. It must also include research questions, hypothesis(es), research methods, data, results and/or expected outcomes, and conclusions. Include all references used to create the research abstract. Students are strongly encouraged to submit their research projects to science fair or agriscience fair contests.