More and more high school students are nurturing their passion for Earth’s environment–and that’s a beautiful thing. Whether you’re into cleaning up our oceans, promoting environmental justice, conserving the forest or simply reducing your own carbon footprint, there are so many ways that high school students can get involved in environmental initiatives.
Considering environmental work as part of your pre-college extracurricular profile? Are you stoked on a STEM approach, or curious about something more sustainability-focused? There are numerous opportunities–such as summer programs and extracurricular activities–that you can take part in while in high school. We discuss a few of them below!
Pre-College Summer Programs
At the Environmental Studies Summer Youth Institute (ESSYI), hosted at Hobart and William Smith College in Geneva, New York, students take an interdisciplinary approach to discovering solutions to pressing environmental issues. Held each year in July, ESSYI sessions include topics such as Energy Policy and Sustainability, Forest and Soil Ecology, Geography of Garbage, and Adirondack Natural History. Working together across disciplines, ESSYI students are driven by essential questions that bring together scientific, economic, and philosophical perspectives.
Excited by the intersection of biology and conservation? Wake Forest University’s Summer Immersion Program in Bioscience offers aspiring conservation biologists the chance to study and engage with local ecosystems while learning biological theory. Through data collection and analysis, microscopy, and experimental design and implementation, students get to roll up their sleeves and discover what scientific inquiry is all about. Wake Forest also offers online summer courses in bioscience for high school students.
If you’re thinking about environmental engineering–and research and collaboration are your thing–you might consider UCLA’s Summer Sessions in Environmental Engineering. Students in this two-week residential program team up with community organizations to study the connections between race, poverty and environmental issues–and come up with innovative solutions rooted in science and engineering. (Bonus: California residents can apply for scholarships to this program if they apply by March 15, 2024!)
Environmental Extracurriculars
It’s also a great idea to get involved with environmental and sustainability initiatives in your home or local community as a high school student. Here are some ideas for ways that you can get involved:
- Join a local beach cleanup effort if you live near the ocean or a lake. Bring your friends.
- Take part in–or start–an initiative in your community to recycle, whether it’s bottles, clothing, tires or tennis balls.
- Look for green waste and composting programs in your area. Help your family, school, or place of worship set up a system for turning food scraps into compost.
- Volunteer with a conservation organization that works to support wild habitats in your local area. The Sierra Club is a great place to start.
- Create a scientific research project that engages local ecosystems: study water quality in a nearby river or test local soil samples for chemical makeup. Write up your findings. You could even get an instructor from your school to mentor your research!
- Build a garden in your backyard and find out what it’s like to grow your own food, or get a plot at a community garden. While you’re at it, take note of the pollinators that come to visit.
- Set up a carpool with your friends.
- Look into community service projects near you that engage with your local environment.
All of these activities–and many more–make great topics for college application essays when writing time comes around. Chances are, you will not only come away with great experiences to write about–you’ll also have fun while doing something amazing to support our environment. Win-win!
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