Summer Research Opportunity

The Soil to Society Summer Research Program is an internship opportunity for motivated high school students to experience hands-on laboratory experience with a research team. Students will work in the agricultural and human health fields with leaders in research.

Students can expect to learn about scientific thinking and communication, research skills and best practices, and ethics in research. In addition, students will work on a research team where they will gain experience in discipline-specific, cutting-edge research. Students will finish the program by submitting a two-page research abstract and participating in a poster symposium.

Applications are now open!
Please apply by April 17th for consideration.

To be eligible for this program, you must:

Be a U.S. resident.
Be able to provide yourself transportation and housing for the designated research location.
Be currently enrolled as a 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grader.
Have a 3.5 (or equivalent) high school GPA listed on current high school transcript.

To apply for this program, you must:

Complete the Soil to Society Summer Research Intern Application.
Include a current unofficial high school transcript.
Include a signed parent/guardian waiver.
Include a signed photographic likeness consent form
Include a current resume of academic, volunteer, community service, leadership, and extracurricular activities.
Include one letter of support from a science or an ag teacher.

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2025 Internship Projects

Pullman, WA - Development and Validation of Breeder-friendly, KASP Markers for Resistant Starch in Lentils

This project aims to develop and validate Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) markers associated with resistant starch concentration in lentils to support marker-assisted breeding for improved nutritional quality. The intern will assist with DNA extraction from lentil seed or leaf tissue, preparation of genotyping plates, running KASP assays, analyzing genotype–phenotype associations using existing resistant-starch datasets, and data collection in greenhouse and field experiments. The intern will also learn basic data handling and visualization in R or Excel. The project contributes to ongoing efforts to improve dietary fiber content and human-health traits in pulse crops while providing hands-on experience in molecular breeding and applied genomics.

Desired skills: Coursework in genetics, biology, or biotechnology; Basic laboratory skills; Comfort working with spreadsheets; Interest in plant breeding or genomics; Willingness to learn R or basic statistical tools; Willingness to work in greenhouse and fields.

Virtual or Pullman, WA - (Social Science Research) - Experiences and Outcomes of High School Student Participation in University Research Internships.

This project will use interviews of prior internship participants to investigate the impact and outcomes of the Soil to Society High School Research Program. Students will learn about qualitative research collection and analysis.

Desired Skills: Strong oral communication skills; Scientific writing experience; Self-directed learning and work.

Learning Targets

Students will be able to…

Investigate the role of sustainable practices in agricultural and food systems on human health outcomes.
Develop scientific thinking and reasoning skills.
Apply ethical, safe, and best practices when engaging in research activities.
Collect, analyze, and interpret scientific data to inform decision making.
Communicate research efforts and results from assigned research team using written and oral communication.
Work effectively as a member of a team and collaboratively across disciplines.

Stipend and Internship Credits

The internship program will pay for all students apply to Washington State University as a non-degree seeking student and earn 1 credit of upper division college credit a $630 value. Students have the option to enroll in an additional 1-2 academic credits at the rate of $595 per credit. Once the internship has concluded and students fulfill the requirements, students will receive a stipend of $1200 and their selected number of academic credits. An additional stipend will be paid to students to participate in the poster symposium.

Students are in charge of their own housing and transportation for the duration of this internship. WSU Housing does have one residence hall in Pullman, WA open for the summer. There is no age limit for staying in university housing over the summer. For more information, including information about university meal plans, please go to https://housing.wsu.edu/residence-halls/summer-housing/.

Program Details

Students selected as interns will spend 200-240 hours assisting a research team on a project related to the research team’s ongoing research. Upon completion of the internship, students will be asked to write a two-page research abstract. Students will also participate in a poster symposium where they will showcase their experience.

The research abstract must include a rationale with a summary of the background information and why this research was important. It must also include research questions, hypothesis(es), research methods, data, results and/or expected outcomes, and conclusions. Include all references used to create the research abstract. Students are strongly encouraged to submit their research projects to science fair or agriscience fair contests.

Notable Internship Outcomes

2023 Intern, Daun Park, co-authored a journal article publication entitled "Value-added pancakes: Incorporation of whole wheat, buckwheat, quinoa, and proso millet flour into pancakes and their effect on product quality" with her mentors, Elizabeth Nalbandian and Dr. Girish Ganjyal. Click the link below to read the full article!

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