Gene Team 2025 has officially come to a close. The summer program began on June 23 and was open to all Pittsburgh-area high school students who completed at least one high school-level biology class. Becky Gonda, a teaching associate professor and Director of Outreach in the Department of Biological Sciences, is the head of the Gene Team.
One of the students, Caleb Dalton, found out about the program through his anatomy teacher, who encouraged him to apply. “I was a little shaky on it, but she, at the end, convinced me because it’s something new that I was getting into.”
This year, the students broke off into groups of three to research sea sponges and their immune responses. They learned how to research, collect data, and come to conclusions about what they studied. While the experiment was at the center of the program, most of the students agreed that they learned about much more than just science.
“Teamwork is a really big thing […] and one thing that I learned that I thought was really interesting was just the sheer amount of things that we do. And the techniques that we learned that build all of these experiments, it's just a lot of hustle and bustle,” said high schooler Sophie O’Toole.
The program concluded with the students presenting their research in Langley Hall on Thursday, and family and friends were invited to watch. Once they finished, Gonda opened up the floor for questions, and then everyone headed across the hall to a reception.
Each student received a $1,000 honorarium, which was paid to them at the end of the program. And to any students interested in applying, Trista Fields, a student in the program, had this to say: “Do it. Just do it. Just do it. You're gonna walk through here and not know what's going on, then they show you what you're going to be doing, and then you're going to leave the program knowing so much more crucial information that is so great to know at your age, because it's information that college students would know.”
Gene Team was founded in 2006 and is accredited by the Middles States Association. Applications for Gene Team 2026 will open in the spring.