Daniel Kim/© AMNH
Curious about what it’s like to be part of SRMP? Hear directly from our alumni as they share their experiences, personal growth, and the impact of the program on their journeys in science and beyond. Watch the videos below to hear what they have to say!
"The experience that I had in SRMP continues to follow me today in college as it has given me the tools to help me dissect difficult concepts and research into questions for inquiry." —Asuka
Student stands in a bright-lit exhibition hall with models of planets.
ASUKA (SRMP Class of 2023, American Museum of Natural History): Hi, my name is Asuka and I was a part of SRMP class of 2023. Throughout the summer we came every single day and throughout the school year twice a week we came in with our mentor Manuel. Together we built a machine learning model to help gather something called hot sub dwarfs which will ultimately help us calculate the expansion rate of the universe.
The experience that I had in SRMP continues to follow me today in college as it has given me the tools to help me dissect difficult concepts and research into questions for inquiry.
"[SRMP] exposed me to research at a very early stage in my high school career, which translated to me now in university through my own research, doing my own independent research." —Austin
Students stands in front of wolf display in a low-lit hall.
AUSTIN (SRMP Class of 2022, American Museum of Natural History): My name is Austin Okoase, Class of 2022 for the Science Research Mentoring Program. In my time, I'm currently a junior at the University of Rochester, double majoring in Public Health and Clinical Transitional Science, aiming to get my MPH and my PhD. So, at my time at the program, I studied coyotes. I focused on coding coyotes to see their frequency in the North American region, as well as regions in here.
At this time, it required me to meet with my mentor at least twice a week, and also, the monthly, uh, with the whole group and whole core. These activities serve as a time for collaboration as well as teamwork and as well as just having fun and team building because it's not only something to be used as professional development.
It's also something you're supposed to enjoy and have fun when you're doing it. So because of this exposed me to research at a very early stage in my high school career, which translated to me now in university through my own research, doing my own independent research. I understand what my researchers and my mentors were teaching at the time.
At the time I really did enjoy my research because not only was it something I enjoyed, but it also gave me those soft skills on how to even set up an email, how to draft a response, how to code, how to, do the basics and through that, it made it, it made what I learned at university, it amplified that information, it made it better.
So, for those trying to apply, I highly recommend you look into this program, and make sure—it is a time commitment. It's something that you have to make sure you're committed to, because, what you put in is what you get out of the program. So, these meetings you have, these professors that you, who are mentoring you, trust them and communicate with them because they're there to help you, and they're there to better you professionally.
So, this is me, Class of 2022, signing out.
"I...gained a lot of important skills like working with Jupiter's notebook, coding, reading through like heavy data and sifting it out for important information, which I found really helpful." —Jashcelyn
Student stands in a bright-lit exhibition hall with models of planets.
JASHCELYN (SRMP Class of 2023, American Museum of Natural History): Hi, I'm Jashcelyn Canada. I was a part of the SRMP 2023 class and my mentor was Dax Felice and we researched about the exoplanets and the M dwarf star systems. I first chose this research project because I wanted to learn more about astronomy and my school didn't really offer a lot of these STEM options, but I really, really knew that I wanted to explore the STEM field and it's something that SRMP really offered and I was very appreciative for. In the research project, although I didn't resonate with astronomy and didn't find myself working in that field again, I still gained a lot of important skills like working with Jupiter's notebook, coding, reading through like heavy data and sifting it out for important information, which I found really helpful.
And I did this program during junior year. So I also had a lot of other responsibilities, but my mentor was very supportive and made it possible for me to come here two days out of the week after school for two hours. And on top of that, um, meet once a month on Fridays to have important meetings about just how to project yourself, how to, um, present data and how to work with other scientists, which I found really, really helpful.
And I understand that this might seem a little intimidating and like a big responsibility, a big time commitment, even. But I, it really proved itself in the end. Like, in college, you will go through way worse, and this is not, like, it was not bad at all. It was very, very, very helpful, and I really did understand and learned a lot.
And if I could do another year in SRMP again, I really, really would.
"SRMP gave me the opportunity to conduct research at a very young age and really solidified my love for research, which is what I do now in college." —Julio
Student is seated inside of a classroom in front of a window that overlooks tree branches and apartments outside of the Museum.
JULIO (SRMP Class of 2022, American Museum of Natural History): My name is Julio Alonso and I'm the shrimp class of 2022. My mentor was Paul Sweet and we geo referenced birds from the Micronesian Islands. We looked at journals from the Whitney South Sea Expedition. To understand their migration patterns, to shed light on the conservation methods that are used over there.
I came to the museum twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school for about two hours. And then we'd come to the museum for advisory once a month to meet with other SRMPers and to ask about their research. SRMP gave me the opportunity to conduct research at a very young age and really solidified my love for research, which is what I do now in college.
Thank you.
"Overall the program really taught me how to effectively communicate with my teammates. I felt like I made really strong bonds with...people who I still talk to, to this day." —Lili
Student is standing in the Hall of Biodiversity’s Deforestation Madagascar display.
LILI (SRMP Class of 2023, American Museum of Natural History): Hello, my name is Lili Piesanen and I was in the SRMP class of 2023. I worked with Dr. Westphal on researching deforestation in Madagascar from 2001 to 2021. We came in two times a week for two hours each and also, uh, on Fridays for the advisories. My favorite advisory was when we heard from some of the mentors and coordinators about their own research.
And overall the program really taught me how to effectively communicate with my teammates. I felt like I made really strong bonds with the people that I was working with and also all the other I've been a student in the program, people who I still talk to, to this day. And I also feel that it made me, uh, effectively learn how to do, conduct research and understand data programming on a more fundamental level.
And finally, the program really helped me solidify my understanding of what I want to study, which is environmental science and um, score internships, and opportunities later on.
"Through SRMP, I gained a lot of different skill sets such as coding, learning how to read scientific papers, and ultimately how to collect interpret and analyze various data sets." —Shiym
Student is sitting in a classroom in front of a table displaying casts of 7 skulls which consist of ancestors to humans and great apes.
SHIYM (SRMP Class of 2020, American Museum of Natural History): Hello, my name is Shiym Chastanet, and I was in SRMP from 2019 to 2020. My mentor was Dr. Maria Strangas, and alongside my teammates, we studied the thermal ecology of eastern box turtles at Black Rock Forest. In SRMP, they stressed communication, collaborative work alongside with each other, and through different disciplines.
SRMP students were able to learn a lot about various fields in science, not just the projects that we were in. Um, once a month we came in for advisories where we learned different techniques that we can use in scientific research, as well as coming in two times a week to actually work on our projects.
Through SRMP, I gained a lot of different skill sets such as coding, learning how to read scientific papers, and ultimately how to collect interpret and analyze various data sets. Um, without my mentor, I feel like I would not be here today talking to you. SRMP opened many doors for me, including making multiple connections with various researchers in anthropology.
With the thanks of my mentor, I was able to collaborate with different scientists and learn so much about paleoanthropology. And ultimately SRMP has opened many doors for me in college and hopefully, um, beyond. My best advice is to make sure you keep your connections and always stay in touch with the museum and those that you work close with.
As in college, it's who you know and not what you know sometimes. So, thank you.