Middle and high school students present posters at AGU Fall Meeting

Abstract

While science fairs may be one way for students to learn about science, AGU takes the science fair one step further by hosting middle and high school students from the San Francisco Bay Area so they can show off their research in the professional arena. The Bright Students Training as Research Scientists (Bright STaRS) program creates a special day at the AGU Fall Meeting for budding scientists. In addition to learning the ins and outs of geoscience research by participating in data collection and analysis for their research projects, they learn the importance of communication by presenting their results. Since 2004 the AGU Bright STaRS initiative has hosted students who have worked on research projects at universities, high schools, and science learning centers. The program enables them to spend a day at the Fall Meeting and to present their research in a poster session. Each year 10–15 abstracts are submitted by about 25–40 middle and high school students for this event; in 2010 this increased to 26 abstracts and 50 students. Since its inception, more than 250 students have participated in Bright STaRS.