Environmental Science Research

Kimberly Zhu
She is an 11th grade student who is interested to work on an environmental science research program.

Kimberly has an amazing score of 1530 for her SAT score. She scored 99% in her Environmental Science last year. She is interested in pollution and habitat conservation.

University admission result

★ Barnard College of Columbia University

Scope of the program

Learning objectives

• Weekly meetings used to review progress and plan strategy/homework by the student.
• Study the efficiency of sustainable agriculture practices to sequester carbon as a natural climate solution.

What challenges did she face?

• Kimberly is extremely interested in pursuing a major in environmental science, however, her Physics and Biology are not strong. A mentorship program in environmental science research will help her greatly.

How did our program in environmental science research help her?

• Kimberly was able to gain a deeper understanding into the capacities of carbon sinks and their relationships with each other and with climate change, global warming and natural based solutions.
• She learnt the proper steps of reading and writing a research paper, from understanding scientific articles, to collecting and analyzing data.

Student’s mentorship program reflection

Through this program, I learned about capacities of carbon sinks, their relationship with each other and with climate change, mechanisms of global warming, natural based solutions, and a little bit about symbiotic relationships involving plants.

Alongside of these topics, I learned about some of the ways research on these topics were conducted.  This program helped me find a specific topic to research more in depth (potentials of sustainable agriculture practices for carbon sequestration), which I have previously struggled with.

By doing research on this topic, I not only gained a lot of knowledge but also acquired skills/experience of reading scientific articles, collecting data, analyzing data, and writing proper research paper. I had a great experience with this program. I learned a lot and I am satisfied with my accomplishments during the program.

Also, I have an amazing mentor. He has been very patient and thorough with all my questions. My accomplishments during this program would not have been possible without him.

Kimberly Zhu

Matched Professor

He is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT. He earned his Ph.D. in Climate Change Ecosystem Ecology at Imperial London College. He is passionate in Earth system science and climate-change research.

Recommendation letter

Based on your knowledge of this student, would you recommend this student to selective universities? Why or why not?

“Yes, she is very capable not just for selective universities but also she could be a good postgraduate student and scientist.

She is a fast learner, curious, motivated and intellectually capable student. Her questions were spot on, and she often surpassed my expectations.“

Mentor from MIT