Dominican College junior Tahinah Lamour (left) is shown here mentoring Spring Valley High School students to help them extract DNA from water samples collected in local ponds.
Twelve Rockland high school students are attending a 3-week science camp at the College this summer. The experience is called RISE (Research Immersion in Science and Ecology) and is being held on campus from July 22 through August 10. The program is free and was funded through a generous grant from Orange and Rockland Utilities.
“The program is important because it’s exposing high school students to the sciences and they are doing hands-on projects that they may not have the opportunity to do somewhere else,” said Biology Professor Regina Alvarez.
The students are taking samples of the Sparkill Creek and local ponds and using microbiology and chemistry to analyze the samples in the College laboratories. The students are also studying the biodiversity of the area with botanical and ecological surveys. In addition to the three College professors working with the students, five Dominican College students are working as mentors with the high school students. On Friday, August 10, the high school students will present their findings during a ceremony in the Lawrence Room in Rosary Hall at 7 p.m. Family and friends are invited to attend.