Local Students Become Scientists Thanks to OARDC Internship Program

WOOSTER, Ohio — After 10 weeks of learning critical skills for conducting scientific research alongside renowned Ohio State University scientists, 56 high-school and undergraduate students finished their one-of-a-kind experience today (8/13) after participating in this year’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) Research Internship Program (ORIP).

The aspiring scientists — from Ashland, Holmes, Stark, Summit and Wayne counties — worked with OARDC’s nationally and internationally recognized faculty, engaging in projects dealing with fields as diverse as environmental studies, biofuels, molecular and cellular biology, entomology, computer science, and animal and plant diseases.

Check out http://www.youtube.com/user/OSUCFAES#p/a/u/0/PB0TC2iIMyg to learn how some of them might even see their summer research projects published in a prestigious scientific journal.

ORIP’s goal is to enhance the interest of local students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Interns learn critical thinking skills through rigorous laboratory and field research experience, seminars, group discussion sessions, and symposia.

ORIP is one way OARDC is answering the state of Ohio’s call for bold action to bolster the teaching of STEM disciplines in K-12 schools — a move seen as crucial for the Buckeye state to attract and retain 21st-century businesses as well as to create and sustain high-skill, high-wage jobs.

For more information about ORIP, contact Parwinder Grewal at grewal.4@osu.edu or 330-263-3963; or log on to http://oardc.osu.edu/orip.

The research arm of Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, OARDC is the largest university agbioscience research center in the nation.

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