Two programs are now one as more than four-dozen-minority high school students are on the Purdue University campus participating in programing that exposes them to educational and career opportunities in agriculture research and veterinary sciences.

The 13-day Purdue Agribusiness Science Academy (PASA) & Ag Discovery Camp (ADC) immerses participants in a specific field of study through a series of hands-on labs and workshops designed to provide real-life experiences within the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields in agriculture.

“The programs exposes students to the wide variety of career opportunities that many students might not have known even existed,” said Myron McClure, assistant director of the College of Agriculture’s Office of Multicultural Programs

Although the programs are open to all high school students entering the 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th grades, McClure noted that the emphasis is on recruiting under-represented minorities (URM) into agriculture such as African-Americans and Latino/Latina(s). The program consists of classroom/field instruction and laboratory research work on campus three days a week and field trips twice weekly.

Students will pick from academic themed tracks of study with one track specifically for ADC students and have research projects to complete and present prior to the conclusion of the institute on July 22nd.

Photography by Tom Campbell

Photography by Tom Campbell

Photography by Tom Campbell and Kiri Northam