Project Exploration is a not-for-profit educational program whose goal is to "change the face of science" by encouraging interest in science among students—especially girls and minorities—who traditionally have not found effective career routes into scientific disciplines. Its primary method is to create intensive collaborative relationships between students and working field researchers through structured programs involving the University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

 and other institutions. In January 2010, it received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. The organization, founded in 1999, is based in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Activities

Project Exploration currently serves nearly 1,000 students. It began as an after-school and summer program when Gabrielle Lyon, a teacher at Fiske Elementary School on the South Side of Chicago, decided that students underrepresented in the sciences, primarily girls and minorities, should be given opportunities to collaborate with actual scientists and participate in real-life scientific research. Students design research projects and test them in the field, or work summers at museums demonstrating science to young children.

• Junior Paleontologists

This program provides an intensive immersion into the field of paleontology for twelve 12-17 year old Chicago Public School minority students. The annual program selects students who are curious and open minded, regardless of academic achievement. For two weeks, the students study geology

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

, anatomy

Anatomy

Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...

, and paleontology

Paleontology

Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...

 at the University of Chicago followed by work alongside scientists in Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

, South Dakota

South Dakota

South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

, or Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

, on fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

-rich terrain. Project Exploration maintains a relationship with them until they graduate from high school. In Hot Springs, South Dakota

Hot Springs, South Dakota

Hot Springs is a city in Fall River County, South Dakota, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,711. It is the county seat of Fall River County...

, students worked under the supervision of paleontologist Larry Agenbroad, Professor Emeritus of Northern Arizona University

Northern Arizona University

Northern Arizona University is a public university located in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. It is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, and has 39 satellite campuses in the state of Arizona. The university offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees.As of...

, for a week of fieldwork at the Mammoth Site

Mammoth Site

The Mammoth Site is a museum and paleontological site near Hot Springs, South Dakota. It contains the remains of fauna and flora preserved by entrapment in a karst sinkhole during the Pleistocene era. Mammoth bones were found at the site in 1974, and a museum and building enclosing the site were...

 in 2009.

• Sisters4Science

Sisters4Science is a year-round after-school and field program that combines science exploration with leadership development for approximately 100 minority middle school girls. Girls participate in hands-on science activities led by women scientists as well as participate in science-based field trips.

• Girls Health and Science Day

Project Exploration organizes a one-day symposium with workshops on the topics of sexuality and tolerance, healthy relationships, self-worth, the female body, and self-defense for female students across Chicago in grades 7-10.

• Dinosaur Giants

The Dinosaur Giants program trains high school students to serve as volunteer interpreters, facilitators or educators at science museums and exhibitions, where they lead tours, answer questions, and run interactive programs. Participants are recruited from Chicago Public Schools and is particularly active at the Field Museum of Natural History

Field Museum of Natural History

The Field Museum of Natural History is located in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It sits on Lake Shore Drive next to Lake Michigan, part of a scenic complex known as the Museum Campus Chicago...

.

• All Girls Expedition

The All Girls Expedition is an intensive two-week classroom and field work experience for twenty girls . It includes intensive classroom instruction in geology, biology, evaluation, and field skills followed by one week working in the field alongside scientists. A recent expedition was to Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...

 in Wyoming, to conduct fieldwork on the water chemistry of geysers, track coyotes and explore a cave with Project Exploration and Yellowstone researchers.

• The Science Teacher Field Institute

The Science Teacher Field Institute is an annual three-week professional development program for Chicago Public School teachers which includes both classroom and field experience with scientists in the disciplines of geology, paleontology, and astronomy

Astronomy

Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...

. All costs are covered by private donations. This program includes field work at eastern Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

's Lost-in-Time Ranch under supervision of professional paleontologists from the University of Chicago and Project co-founder Gabrielle Lyon.

Presidential Award

The Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, awarded each year to individuals or organizations, recognizes the crucial role that mentoring plays in the academic and personal development of students studying science or engineering and who belong to minorities that are underrepresented in those fields. By offering their time, encouragement and expertise to these students, mentors help ensure that the next generation of scientists and engineers will better reflect the diversity of the United States.
Candidates for the Presidential Mentoring Award are nominated by colleagues, administrators, and students from their home institutions. The mentoring can involve students at any grade level from elementary through graduate school. In addition to being honored at the White House

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

, recipients receive awards of $10,000 to advance their mentoring efforts. "There is no higher calling than furthering the educational advancement of our nation’s young people and encouraging and inspiring our next generation of leaders," President Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

said. "These awards represent a heartfelt salute of appreciation to a remarkable group of individuals who have devoted their lives and careers to helping others and in doing so have helped us all."

The award to Project Exploration was announced in July 2009. The award ceremony took place in January 2010 at the White House.