As a result of COVID-19, the GELS Arizona Program has been cancelled for Summer 2023.

Dates: TBD

Eligibility: Students must currently be enrolled in grades 9-12 and at least 14 years of age. Applicants must have a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher.

Application Fee: $100

Tuition Fee: $3,000 (Includes course materials, room and board, ground transportation, and activities but does not include airfare to and from Arizona. Payment plan is available upon request.)

Program Description

Ths is a collaborative program between UC San Diego and Biosphere2. It provides high achieving high school students the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with prominent faculty researchers and grad students in the biomes and labs of the Biosphere 2 complex, exploring causes and effects of climate change on earth’s systems.

Throughout the program scientific research is connected with leadership training and personal growth, which students experience as the program unfolds. Students collaborate, reflect and engage in leadership activities from a value-based process resulting in positive social change, emphasizing the Social Change Model of Leadership. Students begin to understand the magnitude of the changes in their future world, and learn steps to becoming competent stewards. Students are given time to journal their daily experiences, and learn more about themselves as individuals and group members.

• For the students to engage in learning the interconnections which exist between scientific research, leadership, and personal growth.
• For the students to see themselves as caretakers of the world.

• For the students to demonstrate their understanding of collecting and analyzing data by developing and presenting a scientific poster.

• For the students to incorporate the 7 C’s of the Social Change Modelof Leadership into their daily lives by developing a personal action plan.

Learning Outcomes

Science

• • Students have a first-hand experience working with U of A researchers within the Rain Forest, Ocean, Desert, Marsh and Landscape Evolution Observatory (LEO) biomes of the Biosphere 2 complex.
  • Student research groups develop their own experiment to study the effects of climate change on soils, water and/or plants.
  • Students demonstrate their understanding of the principles and topics covered during the program by developing a scientific poster presentation.
  • Students share and defend their data and analysis with their peers and researchers prior to completion of the program at Biosphere 2.

Leadership

• • Students learn the 7 C’s of the Social Change Model of Leadership and how these are connected to the work they are doing at Biosphere 2.
  • Students develop a personal action plan to incorporate each of the Social Change components into their daily lives once they return home.

Personal Growth

• • Students engage in individual and group activities to reflect and learn more about themselves.
  • Students learn what values and characteristics they contribute to group dynamics and group success both in scientific research and in peer interactions.
  • Students develop a final personal presentation and share their most impactful program components on the last evening.

Presentation Skills

• • Students engage in critiquing each other’s work in a respectful and constructive way.
  • Students learn to give and receive constructive criticism.
  • Students work within a group to develop and present a scientific poster analysis.
  • Students work independently to reflect and present their personal views on leadership.

Grading Rubric

For questions, please contact the Pre-College Department at academicconnections@ucsd.edu or call (858) 534-0804. 

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