Monday, January 04, 2010

Project Exploration to Get Presidential Award

University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno and Gabrielle Lyon will accept Project Exploration’s Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Mentoring on Jan. 6 at a White House ceremony.

Sereno and Lyon co-founded the non-profit Project Exploration as a science education organization in 1999 to make science accessible to the public―particularly minority youth and girls―through personalized experiences with science and scientists.

Nearly 1000 Chicago Public School middle and high school students have participated in programs over the past nine years.

The award 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. link