UC Davis Pre-College Program: Environmental Toxicology

This engaging, hands-on program is designed to give you experience working in a university lab on a college-level experiment. With guidance from the instructor and UC Davis teaching assistants, you’ll be exploring an interesting research question you might encounter in environmental toxicology courses. Your research objective will be to explore the effects of toxic chemical exposure on an organism of critical importance: honeybees.

During this course, students will apply the scientific method to postulate a research question that could be used at a university level research project, become familiar with scientific terminology used in the toxicology field, learn how to use online databases to identify genomes, genes and protein sequences, use modern open-source bioinformatics software to design primers to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate gene expression, learn how to extract, identify and quantify toxic chemicals in biological samples on analytical chemistry instruments, learn how to interpret and connect your findings to your scientific question to postulate true scientific statements that will lead research forward.

In this course, students will also learn how to design follow-up experiments through peer collaborative work and connect with and build a scientific network of mentors to help guide you in your future research endeavors.

If you’re interested in an emerging field of scientific study, the UC Davis Pre-College Program in Environmental Toxicology is an unparalleled opportunity to get first-hand experience in the field, and to explore its applications and possible educational and career opportunities.