EnvironMentors joins NCSE

September 1, 2006 -- The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) welcomes a “new-old” program to its Strengthening Education initiative – EnvironMentors.

Initiated in the District of Columbia in 1992, EnvironMentors matches high school students from underserved communities with professionals and college students in science and environmental fields in mentoring relationships. Working together, students and mentors design and carryout environmental science research projects over the course of the academic year. The program concludes with the EnvironMentors Fair and Awards Ceremony at which students present their projects to judges and winners are awarded scholarships to college.

The impact of EnvironMentors has been nothing short of amazing. Over the past five years, 99% of students in the DC EnvironMentors Program have graduated from high school (compared to the DC average of under 60%), and 95% of EnvironMentors students have been admitted to college (compared to the DC average of 17.5%). 

Since 2000, EnvironMentors has been a program of the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation (NEETF).

The move of EnvironMentors from NEETF to NCSE was motivated by a desire to make this successful local program a national program. Local EnvironMentors chapter programs will be implemented through participating colleges and universities drawn from NCSE’s existing network of 140 Affiliate Universities and Colleges.

With support from the National EnvironMentors office based at NCSE, university-based chapters will reach out to local high schools, students, teachers, and mentors and replicate the success of the DC EnvironMentors Program.

To kick things off, North Carolina State University, under the leadership of Provost Larry Nielson, is launching an EnvironMentors chapter in Raleigh, NC this Fall.

Finally, NCSE is pleased to welcome Susan Carlson (EnvironMentors Director) and Megan Chavez (DC Program Manager) to its staff to continue their successful leadership of EnvironMentors.

If you would like to discover more about EnvironMentors Click Here or contact Susan Carlson at susan@NCSEonline.org or Megan Chavez at mchavez@NCSEonline.org.