REGION: Young scientists spend a summer in the lab
North County students participate in coveted internship at Scripps Research Institute
By Renee Haines - For the North County Times | ∞
Rancho Buena Vista High School student Jared Myers, 17, Escondido High School student Chris Coate, 17, Mission Hills High School students Victor Gonzalez, 16, and Kate Barker, 17, stand in the Schultz Lab at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla on Wednesday. The students have been participating in the Summer High School Research Internship at the institute. (Photo Hayne Palmour IV - Staff Photographer) LA JOLLA ---- A few top science students from North County traded their textbooks for lab coats this summer, working in a prestigious internship program at The Scripps Research Institute.
The seven-week paid internships began in July and the interns presented final reports on their research Thursday. Students said the experience was an amazing opportunity to stretch their skills and expand their knowledge.
"It's not what a typical teenager would do over the summer, working at a world-renowned research institute," said Victor Gonzalez, 16, a junior at Mission Hills High School in San Marcos.
"It's just an awesome way to spend your summer," said Chris Coates, 17, a senior at Escondido High School who also interned at the Scripps Research labs in La Jolla.
The two are among 24 San Diego County high school students chosen from this year's record 230 applicants for the biomedical research facility's annual High School Student Research Education Program.
The summer internships followed after-school tutorials in April and May and a "biotechnology boot camp" in June. The boot camp was cosponsored by the Salk Institute, Burnham Institute and life science trade association Biocom.
With an average GPA of 4.2, this year's intern pool also boasted a majority of women (16 of the 24) in a field historically dominated by men, Scripps Research spokeswoman Marisela Chevez said.
Intern Kate Barker, 17, a senior at Mission Hills High who plans to major in chemistry or biology in college, said she's not concerned about a gender gap.
"It does seem I'm a minority, but I'm fine with that ----- I'm just a scientist," she said.
Barker's advice to other women pursuing a career in science: "Don't be intimidated. Follow your passion."
Following a maze of transportation venues to reach the labs was the daily challenge for interns from as far away as Ramona, said Chevez, a Scripps Research communications specialist who coordinates the student program.
Jared Myers, 17, a senior at Rancho Buena Vista High School in Vista, said his daily commute was two hours each way by bicycle, Sprinter, Coaster and shuttle to an internship spent building complex computer models.
The long commute was worth it in helping him learn and focus on a future career in computational biology, he said.
"Computational biology is where all the sciences come together. You use physics and chemistry to study biological problems," Myers said.
Coates of Escondido said he plans to pursue a career in bioengineering.
Gonzalez of San Marcos said the internship would become a valuable addition to his future college applications to study medicine.
"Colleges will go, 'Whoa, you did that?' " Gonzalez said.
Chevez said the annual program was introduced in 1989 to attract and train a more demographically diverse pool of future scientists.
Former interns have graduated from leading universities, and several now work at Scripps Research labs, she said.
"The one thing they all have in common is they all really care about the sciences, and they come together for that," she said.
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