Dear 2017 Prospective Students and Parents,
It is with regret that we must inform you that the PRECIP program will not continue in 2017. Due to the current funding situation, we are unable to continue to support PRECIP at this time. We are actively working to have funding restored for the summer of 2018. We are also taking this opportunity to improve the program by incorporating teacher input and participation into the future goals of the program, while preserving the core goals of helping high school students gain experience with real-world atmospheric research. We know many of you were looking forward to the opportunity to apply to the program for next summer and we apologize we won't be able to offer that opportunity, but we are optimistic we will be able to bring an improved PRECIP back in 2018.
Regards,
The PRECIP team
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PRECIP, the Pre-College Internship Program, is a high school program designed to engage high school students in the atmospheric and related science fields. The program is designed to allow high school students to participate in a summer internship at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Students participate in research projects with scientists and engineers as part of a six week program. During these six weeks, the students will work on real-world research tasks and participate in writing workshops that designed to teach them how to write scientific abstracts of their work. At the end of the six week program, students produce a scientific poster that summarizes their work and results and present the poster at the NCAR student poster session with the rest of the NCAR summer interns. Many students have found this program to be beneficial when making decisions on what to pursue when they go on to college.
Previous student research projects have ranged from working on influences of climate change on tornado occurrence to developing upgrades to the NCAR snow machine. Some of the other exciting areas of research include understanding a rapidly changing climate and its impact on the Earth and its inhabitants, severe weather events such as hurricanes and tornadoes, atmospheric chemistry measurements and aviation weather.
PRECIP invites all high school students interested in the atmospheric and related sciences -- including meteorology, chemistry, physics, engineering, mathematics and hydrology -- to apply to the program. In particular, PRECIP seeks to involve students from groups that are historically under-represent in the sciences, including Black or African-American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Hispanic or Latino, female, first-generation college students and students with disabilities.
IMPORTANT DATES FOR 2017
Application dates: We expect to begin accepting applications towards the end of January, 2016. More details will be posted to the page on this as we prepare for this summers program. As part of the application process, students will be asked to prepare a short essay on why they are interested in the program and what they hope to get out of it.
2016 summer internship: The six-week program will begin June 13 and run through July 28th.
Poster Session date: July 28. Family are welcome and encouraged to attend the poster session.
STIPEND
PRECIP students typically work 20-30 hours a week and earn a competitive wage during their time in the program.
HOUSING
PRECIP does not provide housing costs for students. While the program is open for anyone to apply, students outside of the Denver/Boulder area will need to find housing accommodations while they participate in the program.
TRANSPORTATION
PRECIP does not cover airfare for anyone applying from outside the Denver/Boulder area. Reimbursement for gas costs for local area students may be granted in some instances and will be evaluated on an individual basis.
