In its second year of existence, the University chapter of EnvironMentors is thriving.
 EnvironMentors, an initiative of the National Council for Science and the Environment, is designed to enrich the scientific education of under-represented high school students throughout the country. The University’s chapter partnered with the Scotlandville Magnet High School science department.
The LSU chapter of EnvironMentors has accumulated a number of accomplishments on both the national and chapter level in its two years.
Five students and five chaperones traveled to Washington, D.C., in May to compete in the National EnvironMentors Science Fair.
Program participant and high school student Markeisha Hill won first prize and a $1,000 scholarship at the fair for her project titled “Why Does My Uncle’s Water Taste Bad?” Hill gathered samples of drinking water from her home, her uncle’s home and a third location and had them analyzed for impurities.
Former EnvironMentors Director Susan Welsh said Hill’s project won because of the initiative and understanding of scientific research that it showed.
“Even though it wasn’t clear why it was that the water did not taste right, she was able to work through the scientific method, understand the steps, thoroughly understand her project and be able to communicate it really well,” Welsh said. “What we try to tell the kids is that it is OK in science if your project does not work. It is still a finding.”
Welsh said she attributes the heightened level of involvement of graduate student mentors and coordinators to the immediate success of the group.
“Each [high school] student is paired with two mentors,” Welsh said. “That way, if a mentor has to be out of town, we always have the backup.”
The program also aims to provide more opportunities for students to attend college by allowing participants to interact with college students and providing access to resources for collegiate preparedness.
Of the group’s 18 high school senior participants, eight have been admitted to a university, and Coordinator Courtney Saari anticipates the rest of the students will follow suit.
“This year we are helping students get into schools by making sure they fill out their FAFSA and take their ACT,” Saari said. “Every student will attend a four-year college or Baton Rouge Community College.”
Hill is among the students who have already secured a place in a university classroom for the fall. She was accepted into Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., and received a full scholarship.
Alexis Johnson will study in the School of Coast and Environment at LSU upon graduation. Johnson said she was highly influenced by the example of her mentors Grace Harwell and Kari Klotzbach.
“At first, I wanted to do environmental engineering, but my mentors study fish,” Johnson said. “I like working with fish and with them, so I decided to switch.”
Christopher D’Elia, dean of the School of Coast and Environment, said he has long been concerned about the failure of the science and math education in our society.
“I felt when I arrived here as dean almost three years ago that we did not have enough ways to reach out to the community,” D’Elia said.
D’Elia said he was pleased by the EnvironMentors’ ability to help students graduate high school and their efforts to promote a college education.
“We don’t care where they go as long as they understand that college is within the realm of possibility,” D’Elia said.
 
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Contact Paul Braun at [email protected]