Earthwatch IGNITE
Student Science Awards - Los Angeles*
Earthwatch’s innovative LA Student Fellowship Program launched in 2011 and seeks students from high schools in Greater Los Angeles* for the experience of a lifetime!
We are looking for well-rounded students who are engaged in arts and humanities as well as creative, high-achieving science students.
Are you the ideal student? Are you:
- Going to high school in Los Angeles*? Current freshmen, sophomores and juniors are preferred, but high school students of any grade level, who meet the age requirement listed below, are welcome to complete the Student Interest Form.
- Going to be between the ages of 15 and 18 in the summer of 2013?
- A creative thinker?
- Someone who enjoys/excels in the arts and humanities?
- A motivated learner?
- Someone who likes, but perhaps doesn't love science?
- Able to spend 14 days on an expedition during the summer of 2013?
- Excited by the possibility of working with other Los Angeles teens on a research team?
If you are, here's what you need to do:
- Complete the Student Interest Form
- Talk with your classroom teachers about the program and ask two of them for a written recommendation. You will need two recommendations. We strongly prefer one from a science and one from a non-science teacher. If you're not sure how to talk about the opportunity with your teachers. Print out the flyer here.
- Complete the Student Application Form by December 10, 2012. After completing the interest form, we'll send a link to the application to those students who are qualified. We are looking for high quality applications that are well written.
- Nominate a teacher for the Teacher Fellowship Program. There is a similar opportunity for ten High School classroom teachers!
Watch a short video of students in the field, courtesy of The Durfee Foundation.
What happens after you apply?
Your application will be reviewed by the Earthwatch Review Panel, most of which are teachers from around the country. Once your application has been reviewed by the Panel, a Selection Committee comprised of representatives from Earthwatch and the Durfee Foundation will meet and identify fifty awardees as well as a small pool of alternates. All applicants will be notified of their status in April 2013.
Do you want more details?
The Durfee Foundation has been supporting our student program for over 20 years. Their aim has been to ‘excite the student's imagination, expand their potential, and stimulate their curiosity about science and technology'. This year, fifty students from Los Angeles will be selected and placed in teams with seven to nine other students. In the spring, you will participate in an orientation session with all of the students selected for the program. You'll fly from LAX with your team to your rendezvous location. Right now we are planning to send students to projects in Belize , Nova Scotia , New Mexico , Nevada , Bahamas , and Wyoming . You'll work with an Earthwatch Program Coordinator who will take care of booking travel for your team and provide you with any information you'll need. You will need to complete expedition forms that require a medical doctor's signature, and complete a field report and evaluation when you get back from the field.
*If you are not in Los Angeles , please feel free to complete the Student Interest Form. We will keep your interest form on file and contact you if we have funding for which you are eligible. Please keep in mind that we do not have funding for students outside of Los Angeles at this time.
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