PhD Scientists Mentor California High Schoolers in STEM

When some of the nation's brightest PhD researchers walk into a high school engineering lab, something remarkable happens. Students designing prototypes suddenly see their future selves.

Since 2023, the Hertz Foundation has connected its Fellows with students at Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy in Goleta, California. The collaboration brings active researchers into one of the state's most innovative STEM programs, creating a bridge between frontier science and teenage curiosity.

The partnership started with a simple idea from Lars Bildsten, a Hertz Fellow and director at UC Santa Barbara's Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics. He saw an opportunity to connect two groups who shared a love of innovation: doctoral researchers tackling national challenges and high school students building hands-on engineering projects.

What began as plans for museum-style exhibits quickly evolved into something more powerful. Fellows now visit campus regularly, joining project briefings and offering guidance on technical problems students face in real time.

"I really enjoyed visiting Dos Pueblos," said Hertz Fellow Anjali Gurajapu. "The students have clearly learned a lot, and I enjoyed learning from them." That two-way learning experience defines the program's success.

The impact goes beyond career advice. During one visit, Fellow Adele Payman suggested a design change that made a handheld prototype safer for classroom use. Now students from kindergarten through high school use the improved technology daily.

For the Fellows, these classroom visits sharpen essential skills. Explaining gravitational waves or viscoelasticity to teenagers requires clarity that strengthens their ability to communicate complex research to any audience. Those communication skills prove valuable throughout scientific careers.

Students get something equally important: a chance to see who scientists really are. Meeting researchers who once sat in similar classrooms helps students picture themselves in research careers they might never have considered.

The Ripple Effect

The collaboration is growing organically through the Hertz community itself. Nicole Schauser, a Hertz Fellow who attended DPEA as a student, now supports the program. Her involvement reflects the pay-it-forward spirit both organizations cherish.

Fellow donor David Cannell praised DPEA's emphasis on creative problem solving, noting how it mirrors the innovative thinking Hertz Fellows bring to their research. That alignment makes the partnership feel natural rather than forced.

As the program expands, it offers a roadmap for meaningful engagement between research communities and K-12 education. Other institutions are watching closely, interested in replicating the model.

The collaboration proves that cutting-edge science doesn't have to feel distant or exclusive, and today's high schoolers are tomorrow's innovators who just need to see the path forward.