Fort Bridger student participates in academic program at UW

Fort Bridger student participates in academic program at UW
Holden Bindl of Fort Bridger demonstrates work on his research project in a University of Wyoming laboratory. He is taking part in the six-week Summer Research Apprentice Program that helps promote interest in science careers. (UW Photo)

LARAMIE — When Holden Bindl of Fort Bridger attends a University of Wyoming academic camp, he knows that he will receive a good education.

He already has participated in energy, astronomy and energy resources camps as he prepares for his senior year of high school.

“You could say I’m interested in the sciences,” Bindl says.

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That’s why he currently is taking part in an intensive research program designed to promote interest in science careers.

The Summer Research Apprentice Program at the University of Wyoming is a six-week, paid summer research program for students who have completed their sophomore year of high school. Current high school juniors and seniors, such as Bindl, also are eligible for the UW program.

SRAP began in 1985 to provide minorities, first-generation college (neither parent completed college), and female students the opportunity to gain a meaningful firsthand experience in science, mathematics, engineering or other related science research.

Bindl plans to get his undergraduate degree in particle physics, and then attend graduate school to work on his master’s degree.

SRAP stimulates interest in science careers and is a valuable opportunity to gain firsthand experience in research at UW, says Lisa Abeyta, SRAP project coordinator. Other benefits include exposure to workplace expectations, educational and cultural opportunities on a college campus, and team-building and problem-solving activities for participants.

“I want high school students to know that, even though they may be the first in their family to go to college, it is not impossible. College is an attainable goal,” she says.

Program participants are chosen primarily from the Rocky Mountain region, but others from across the United States also have applied for the annual summer program at UW. This summer, 22 students from nine states are working on research projects.

Based on their interest, participants are paired with a UW professor or post-doctoral researchers, and spend their days in the laboratory performing various research experiments. Among available research areas of interest offered to students are chemistry, energy research, ecology, botany, molecular biology, mathematics, statistics, engineering, nursing and psychology.

Bindl’s project title is “Detection of VOCs of Bacteria after Phage Infection” in the UW Department of Microbiology.

“This program gives me a good research background that I can put on my resume for job applications or for college applications,” he adds.

SRAP students will present their research work in front of class members, family and invited guests during the program’s final day, Friday, July 18.

The program is funded by the Wyoming National Science Foundation’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NSF EPSCoR) through the National Science Foundation grant.

To learn more about the program, contact Abeyta at (307) 766-6059 or email labeyta1@uwyo.edu.