Sign up as a stand-by volunteer to receive the best matching outreach opportunities with your interest and field of expertise!
Upcoming Outreach Events
SFUSD Classroom Speaking Opportunities
Mission Graduates - Math Tutoring
SFUSD Classroom Speaking Opportunities
Life Academy and Rudsdale Newcomer Highschool are looking for life scientists to speak in their classrooms!
The first opportunity would be for a cell biologist or someone who studies cancer to talk to 9th graders on a Tuesday afternoon from 1:45 - 3:45 at Life Academy. (If multiple folks are interested, we could do multiple days). This could be virtual, although in person preferred. Any Tuesday in October or November could work.
The second opportunity is for a microbiologist of virologist to speak with students at Rudsdale Newcomer Highschool. It would be really really wonderful if this person could speak Spanish, or come with someone who does. At this school, all students arrived in the US within the past 3 years and many have very limited English. They will be studying bacteria and viruses and we would love for them to understand what a scientist does as well as how that person came to be a scientist.
Anyone interested in either opportunity can email me at [email protected].
Time: 2-hour class interactions
Date: Any Tuesday in September or November
Location: Life Academy is located at 2101 35th Ave in Oakland. Street parking is usually available on 34th and 35th St.
Sign-up: Please email Dr. Emily Frank ([email protected]).
Mission Graduates - Math Tutoring
Are you comfortable with being a Math Tutor at the high school level? If so, Mission Graduates would love to have you work 1:1 with our high schoolers this upcoming Spring Semester! A volunteer Math Tutor provides support and guidance for students in high school-level math courses, such as Algebra, Geometry, Precalculus, and AP courses. The role would entail a one-on-one relationship with our students, and the meeting days would be up to the tutors and students based on their schedules.The Math Tutor 2023 program is a 5-month commitment (academic Spring Semester) beginning with an in-person orientation January 10, from 6-7pm. Math Tutors will work 1:1 with students to set up a weekly meeting day and time throughout the semester at our College Connect Office.
Volunteer Requirements for this opportunity are as follows:
*Both requirements must be completed by the first 1:1 meeting date with the student. Once complete, please upload your documents to this portal: Kindful Link
This is an exciting opportunity for professionals interested in community engagement, as well as an opportunity to form a meaningful relationship with youth and to support them through an important part of their lives.
Please fill out this program-specific Math Tutor 2023 Application to get started.
Past Outreach Events
2022 Bay Area Science Festival
2022 SEP High School Intern Program (Mentors & Program Volunteers)
2022 CURE High School Intern Program
2022 SFUSD High School Intern Program
2022 UCSF-Lowell Science Research Program
2022 AI4ALL
2022 SFUSD Summer Series
2022 NexGeneGirls Summer Internship
2022 Mission Graduates - Writing Partners Program
2022 UCSF First Gen Mentorship
2022 Annual Oakland Unified School District Biotech Topics and Careers Conference
2022 Letters to a Pre-Scientist
2022 BOBA - Mentoring SFSU Students
2022 Excolo Seminars’ STEM Seminar Initiative
2022 Science and Health Education Partnership
2022 SFUSD Intern Hosting (Fall)
Bay Area Science Festival
BASF is a celebration of the unique science and technology of the BayArea. Scientists from our local universities, companies, and museums will share their stories, passion, and fun science activities, as they highlight the excitement of science in the Bay Area!
SEP High School Intern Program
SEP’s High School Intern Program hosts high school juniors from San Francisco public schools for this paid summer internship opportunity. Under the guidance of scientist mentors, interns will gain authentic research experience as they complete a short-term research project, develop a better understanding of science and career opportunities, and become part of a professional community. All interns in the High School Intern Program come from backgrounds underrepresented in science.
CURE High School Intern Program
The CURE High School Summer Internship gives African American and LatinX high school juniors a paid research experience and college application support. We look for faculty, postdocs or graduate students to be mentors for these students. Postdocs or graduate mentors will receive a $500 stipend.
SFUSD High School Intern Program
UCSF seeks hosts for underrepresented (Black/African American, Latinx, Native/Indigenous, AAPI) San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) high school summer interns interested in learning about the health sciences and its related careers. The interns are paid by SFUSD, and the UCSF Center for Science Education & Outreach office handles the onboarding process for the interns.
UCSF-Lowell Science Research Program
This program is a collaboration between the UCSF MSTP and the Biomedical Sciences (BMS) graduate program and San Francisco’s Lowell High School that seeks to introduce high school students to the world of science, teach them laboratory techniques, and inspire a passion for research and discovery. The hope is that over nine weeks, student interns learn about the scientific process while helping further the research being performed. At the end of the nine weeks, student interns present their work from the summer at a symposium hosted by the internship program.
AI4ALL
The UCSF AI4ALL three-week program will host talented U.S. high school students who want to learn about Artificial Intelligence applications to Biomedicine with a focus on machine learning approaches. This free program, co-led by Drs. Marina Sirota and Tomiko Oskotsky, target students from backgrounds underrepresented in AI. Students engage with UCSF faculty and participate in group research projects guided by UCSF graduate students and staff. The program concludes with a Final Symposium. The program is looking for people to help mentor the students, as well as people to give presentations on their current research.
San Francisco United School District Summer Series
The SFUSD is hosting a variety of opportunities geared toward informing high school students about career paths and the skills necessary to pursue one. This summer, the SFUSD is looking for volunteers to assist in the following three events: Mock Student Interviews, Learn & Earn Career Panel, Health Careers/Personal Journeys Panel.
NexGeneGirls Summer Internship
NexGeneGirls brings rigorous in-person research internships and leadership development to high school females of color from historically excluded communities in the San Francisco Bay Area.Mission Graduates - Writing Partners Program
Every summer, Mission Graduates pairs Writing Partners with high school students to work one-on-one on writing their personal insight questions (PIQ) for college applications and scholarships, meeting weekly for 6-8 weeks or throughout the academic year. Writing Partners are able to cultivate meaningful relationships with youth and provide them with much-needed support in such an important chapter of their lives. Mission Graduates is looking for volunteers who are experienced in the process of writing and submitting applications; as postdocs, we can offer these students a wealth of knowledge and personal experience from our own lives, and have a unique chance to pass that knowledge onto the next generation!
UCSF First Gen Mentorship
The First Generation Mentoring Program was created to help UCSF First Gen students connect to faculty, staff, postdocs, residents, and alumni as we know it can be difficult to build mentoring relationships. Mentors can bring a fresh perspective, normalize struggles, help students navigate through their academic and professional endeavors, and serve as a source of inspiration and support.
Annual Oakland Unified School District Biotech Topics and Careers Conference
The 2022 Annual Oakland Unified School District Biotech Topics and Careers Conference is held on September 24, 2022. Volunteers hold workshops and serve on the career panel. The conference will be formatted as 3 x 45 min sessions on various topics in biotechnology (very broad definition) followed by a Careers in Biotechnology Panel.
Letters to a Pre-Scientist
Letters to a Pre-Scientist pairs middle school students with real STEM professional pen pals from all over the world in a school-based letter exchange program. STEM professionals are paired 1:1 with a student, or “pre-scientist” for the duration of the school year and exchange four rounds of letters. You’ll help plant seeds that support students to discover possibilities in STEM!
BOBA - Mentoring SFSU Students
BOBA (Brain Outreach Bay Area, the outreach team of the neuroscience DEI committee) has an exciting outreach opportunity to be a mentor for undergrad students from San Francisco State University who are applying to graduate school! As a mentor, you will help 1-2 students by providing feedback on the personal statement for their Ph.D. application. The time commitment is about 3-4 hours over the course of the fall. You will primarily help the student with their personal statement but this will also be an opportunity to get to know the students and answer their questions about life as a Ph.D. student or postdoc.
Excolo Seminars’ STEM Seminar Initiative
Excolo Seminars was founded by an undergraduate research intern in the Marson Lab, Jeffrey Perera. The general population’s view on researchers is generally limited to data that is published (numbers, figures, findings, methods, and approaches) and not the inspiring stories that bring to light one’s come up, personal background, and the notion that careers and success in these academic fields are possible. For an industry that is struggling with diversity and inclusion, teachers and principles are captivated. He has started working with underserved schools across the nation to allow scientists to zoom into (or attend in-person) classes and give seminars focused on their rise to success.As a seminar speaker, you will give one 60-minute seminar on your story in science. The last 15 minutes of the talk will be a networking opportunity for the high school audience. Please find more information on https://www.excoloseminars.org/.Science and Health Education Partnership
Through SEP’s programs, UCSF staff, faculty and students partner with public school teachers from the San Francisco Unified School District to: Bring fun health & science lessons into teachers' classrooms; Help K-12 students develop accurate ideas about scientists; Support students' realization that that they could become a scientist or health professional; Reinvigorate your own love of science! Please find more information on https://sep.ucsf.edu/classroom-partnerships/.
SFUSD Intern Hosting
SFUSD places paid high school interns at UCSF during fall quarters, who are available 10-15 hours per week and are already onboarded with basic lab skills and ready to work.