The ACS Project SEED summer research program opens new doors for economically disadvantaged students to experience what it's like to be a chemist. Students entering their junior or senior year in high school are given a rare chance to work alongside scientist-mentors on research projects in industrial, academic, and federal laboratories, discovering new career paths as they approach critical turning points in their lives. With guidance from mentors, they gain confidence, a solid sense of direction, and the ability to realize their own potential.
Two students, Tabitha Stauffer and Angela Cluley, were selected to participate in the American Chemical Society's (ACS) Project SEED Summer I program, which lasted from June through August last year. One intent of Project SEED is to provide students with the opportunity to do meaningful research in a chemistry-related discipline. Another important feature is its emphasis on career development and its motivation of students to pursue higher education in the natural sciences, including chemistry and chemistry-related fields.
Tabitha Stauffer, a senior from Bullock Creek High School, worked with Frances Fournier at the Dow Corning Corporation in Midland on a project involving the screening of novel siloxane materials for their application in coatings. Tim McGuire, a chemistry teacher at Bullock Creek High School, recommended Stauffer as a student with a strong interest in chemistry who would benefit from the Project SEED experience and mentoring. Tabitha states that she enjoyed her experience, learned a lot, and wants to continue with this or another project through the SEED II program this summer.
Angela Cluley, a senior at Saint Louis High School, was selected to do chemical research in the Chemistry Department at Central Michigan University last summer. She worked under the direction of Dr. Anja Mueller who is investigating heavy metal ion removal from wastewater by imprinted polymers. Cluley was nominated to do research with Project SEED by Sarah Beery, chemistry teacher at St. Louis High School. Kevin Stedman, guidance counselor at the high school, helped to coordinate the selection process. Angela has aspirations of going to college to pursue a pre-professional degree that involves both biological and chemical sciences.
The Midland Section of the ACS has a long history of supporting the Project SEED program. "We began supporting the program in 1978 and had two students that year. The program has been tremendously successful over the years with more than 85% of the SEED students attending college and greater than 60% of those majoring in chemistry related areas," says Bob Howell, councilor and board member of the Midland Section. The Midland Section of the ACS is considering expanding the number of students it supports in future years.
The ACS has raised the stipend to $3,000 for SEED I and $3,500 for SEED II students for the upcoming year. The Midland Section hopes to host both Angela and Tabitha as SEED II students and an additional three new SEED I students on various projects in laboratories located throughout our Section.
For more information about Project SEED, contact Project SEED Chair Estelle Lebeau, Estelle LeBeau, lebea1el@cmich.edu.
