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Review Paper on Microplastics

Setting the foundations for an impactful future in science

Mentee Profile

Mary was a freshman who was passionate about helping the environment, already actively advocating for her school to eliminate its use of plastic. In her mentorship, she hoped to learn more about how microplastics can directly influence human health while creating a solid foundation of scientific skills that she could build on throughout high school.

Mentee Goals

Mary's learning objectives were to study the impact of microplastics on human health and the routes they might follow when ingested, while also learning about the scientific process as a concept, how to become a career scientist, and how to communicate complex scientific concepts in a clear, concise manner.


Mentor Match

Mary's mentor was a marine biology professor and science communicator who actively manages research projects while gathering video footage to raise awareness about ecological issues. A viral video of him removing a straw from a sea turtle's nose is largely credited with inspiring a global movement to fight plastic pollution in our oceans.

Custom Curriculum

Skill Development

Mary learned how to navigate online databases of scholarly articles and perform her own research, as well as how to read, analyze and synthesize scientific literature into her own writing.

Program

First, Mary reviewed the fundamentals of peer-reviewed scientific literature on microplastics, delving into the latest research and determining the topic she would like to focus on for her literature review. Once choosing the subject of the impacts of microplastic inhalation on human health, Mary continued honing her research, writing and revising a literature review paper on the topic.

Final Project

Mary completed her review article, which was accepted for publication by the Young Scientists Journal.

MENTEE FEEDBACK

Students self-reported large gains in:

Writing skills

Research skills

Increased academic self-confidence

Learning to work independently

Clarification of which academic areas interest her

Accomplishing a personal goal

Vist project website

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Projects

Hugo has run hundreds of mentorships across dozens of fields.  Each of them are unique and designed around the students background, goals and interests.  Below are some of the final projects students developed during their mentorships.

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