San Diego Foundation Awards Blasker Grant to TSRI Summer
Research Internship Program
By Mika Ono
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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