Since 2013, the Steen Lab has partnered with students and faculty at Malcolm X Shabazz High School in Newark, NJ to perform authentic research on the activities and nature of extracellular peptidases present in small freshwater bodies and estuaries. High school students and faculty are true participants in the research, helping to design experiments, collect and process data, and present the research. More than 100 students have participated in this program. Students have participated in writing one paper about the research, and have presented at four conferences, including twice at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
Going forward, we are in the process of expanding this program to work with both rural and urban high schools in East Tennessee.
