Texas Wesleyan has received a Project SEED grant from the American Chemical Society. The Project SEED mission is to provide sustained STEM research, learning and growth opportunities for high school students with diverse identities and socioeconomic backgrounds so they can be empowered to advance and enrich the chemical science enterprise. The grant will provide a $4,000 summer stipend for a high school student with the option to apply for a one-year nonrenewable scholarship of up to $5,000 to help cover tuition and fees during their first year of college.

Since its inception in 1968, Project SEED has grown and diversified its services of providing hands-on summer research experiences (8-10 weeks) to more than 11,000 students in 40 U.S. states and territories. Each year, the program supports 350+ students with research opportunities with qualified mentors in both academia and industry as well as providing a virtual summer camp focusing on college readiness and professional development, lab preparedness and exposure to chemistry-related career paths.

The PIs for the project are Dr. Bruce Benz, professor of biology (research director) and Ricardo E. Rodriguez, professor of chemistry (site coordinator). The research director for the SEED grant will allow Dr. Benz to recruit and supervise a high school student over the summer. The project, "DNA eMetabarcoding invasive flora in Tandy Hills," is an ongoing project that Dr. Benz has developed over the last 15 years.