The EARTH Program

Students, teachers, and Columbia faculty gather for the annual symposium.

Students collect and preserve traditional plant samples for research.

Students present their findings for Facebook Live audience.

Monitoring for air mercury levels in communities.

A collaboration between the Department of Environmental Health Sciences and Missouri Breaks Industries Research, Inc., The EARTH Program is funded by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences. The Environmental heAlth sciences Research for Teachers and High school students (EARTH) Program is a structured summer environmental health sciences research program for high school students and teachers from three Native communities in the Northern Plains. Locally based teams (one high school teacher and up to three students) conduct high-quality, locally relevant environmental health sciences research through collaboration with Columbia University and Missouri Breaks Industries Research Inc (MBIRI) researchers. Teams leverage ongoing research projects and collaborations in the area, including activities related to the Columbia Northern Plains Superfund Research Program. Potential projects include those evaluating drinking water quality, air pollution, uranium and gold mining, and dietary exposures, among others.

Goals

Our long-term goal is to increase the number of local/Native students pursuing educational or job opportunities in environmental health sciences, public health sciences, and other STEM fields. The community-oriented structure of the EARTH program is designed to reduce financial and geographic barriers to research experiences and center Indigenous environmental health research priorities, ethics, and practice. During the summer, teams use video conferencing software to participate remotely in seminars, collaborative workshops, and research meetings with their research mentors and with the other EARTH teams. At the end of the summer, the three teams gather in person for the EARTH research symposium to share their research findings with each other and their communities.

Additional Details

• Compensation for up to 32 hours/week for 10 weeks
• Professional SAT/ACT preparation courses available for students
• Network with other students, Native scientists, and local colleges with relevant STEM programs
• Receive mentoring and support from teachers, faculty, and peers

For more information and ways to support the program, please contact:

• Anne Nigra, Program Director
• Yoshira Ornelas Van Horne, Deputy Program Director

Currently funded by grant R25 ES034931 from:

Interested in similar programs at Columbia University?
Find more information about pathways programs.