Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Project Summary (1995-2000)

This project selects 15 high-potential under-represented minority students in the 11th and 12th grades, to undertake a summer program in which they receive training and gain practical experience alongside environmental scientists who are working in six different projects involving heavy metals and chlorinated hydrocarbons. The students' activities include full time work with an environmental scientist involved with a project that is supported under this Superfund application; weekly oral and written presentations in seminar; library orientation; a career seminar; a History and Philosophy of Science seminar; an environmental medicine seminar and a sail on the sloop "Clearwater" to study the ecology of the Hudson River. Towards the end of the Summer Program, students present a 10-page paper based on themes derived from their work in environmental research. They each receive a certificate for satisfactory completion of the program at an end-of-summer "Awards Day" ceremony. An assessment mechanism determines whether and how the students benefitted from the program-specifically: a change in attitude towards science careers; knowledge and technical skills gained; and awareness of career possibilities in the fields of environmental and occupational medicine.