San Diego Foundation Awards Blasker Grant to TSRI Summer Research Internship
Program
By Mika Ono Benedyk
The San Diego Foundation has awarded a Blasker Grant to The Scripps Research
Institute (TSRI) Summer Research Internship Program. The $38,000 grant
will sponsor 14 interns—ten local high school students and four undergraduates
from San Diego-area universities—in the summer of 2003.
"We are thrilled to receive this support," says Robin Clark (formerly
Goldsmith), vice president of communications and director of the Educational
Outreach Program. "The generosity of our sponsors enables us to provide
students and teachers with the invaluable experience of working with top-notch
scientists in the lab."
"The award from the San Diego Foundation is a testament to all those
who have participated in the past," says Communications Coordinator Jennifer
O'Sullivan.
The Summer Research Internship Program is one component of TSRI's Science
Outreach Program, which aims to promote and improve science literacy,
enhance science teachers' professional development, and inspire students
to pursue careers in the life sciences. In recognition of the shift towards
a multiracial, multiethnic society, TSRI encourages students and teachers
from gender and ethnic groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences
to attend its programs.
Since the outreach program's inception in 1993, over 200 high school
students, 25 science teachers, and 71 undergraduates have participated
in summer internships at TSRI. Another 18 students and three teachers
are confirmed for this coming summer. The Science Outreach Program's day-long
Contemporary Issues in Bioscience Seminar has reached over 600 teachers.
"X-Sci," a half-day educational program for high-school students, has
reached over 1,500 individuals.
Other sources of annual funding for the Science Outreach Program include:
the Samuel H. and Katherine W. French Fund and the Maurice J. Masserini
Charitable Trust, both administered by Wells Fargo Bank; the San Diego
Workforce Partnership, which funds 10 to 15 internships through the Neighborhood
House Association; the Joseph Drown Foundation; the Carl E. Wynn Foundation;
and the Bank of America Foundation. In addition, private contributions
have been received from philanthropists Robert Wallace; George and Patsy
Conrades; and Oliver and Norma James.
Endowment funding for the outreach program includes gifts from Chairman
of the TSRI Board of Directors John Diekman and his wife Susan Diekman;
The William Randolph Hearst Foundation; and the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation.
The San Diego Foundation is a community resource for receiving, managing,
and distributing charitable funds to support organizations within the
San Diego region. The foundation's Blasker Grants Program was established
to "nurture and develop unique and innovative discoveries and experiences
that may benefit all mankind, and to support and encourage individuals
with potential in the scientific, engineering, and medical fields to reach
their full potential."
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