NC-ACS Project SEED program students head to Japan

From North Carolina to Japan

What do public high schools in North Carolina have in common with a university in Japan? North Carolina high school students Asia Fields, Kyra Gustus, and Lizbeth Luna-Lopez will each be presenting their own research project at Nagoya University in June as finalists in the 2025 North Carolina International Science Challenge. Fields, Gustus, and Luna-Lopez completed their winning projects through the North Carolina American Chemical Society (NC-ACS) Project SEED program under the mentorship of Tova Williams Cherry, principal investigator of the Sustainable Dye Chemistry Laboratory at North Carolina State University (NC State); Evan Reynolds, professor of chemistry at Campbell University; and Caroline Proulx, professor of chemistry at NC State

Fields, Gustus, and Luna-Lopez are three of almost 240 students who have in the past 30 years found success in participating in the NC-ACS Project SEED program. The North Carolina Local Section is among ACS local sections from 40 US states and territories that take part in the Project SEED program, which got its start in 1968. The North Carolina program came to be in 1994 as a cost-free, year-round science enrichment program for academically talented students interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) who come from households with low incomes.

“The goal of the program is to motivate students who have an interest in science to pursue terminal degrees,” says Anibal Lopes, quality manager at contract research firm Avazyme and chair of the NC-ACS Project SEED Committee. He explains that NCS-ACS Project SEED offers paid summer internships to students in their first and second years in the Project SEED program. Selected students are currently assigned to science- and chemistry-specific mentors at NC State, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), North Carolina Central University (NCCU), Campbell University, and Avazyme. Summer interns participate in a symposium at the end of their 8-week internship as well as a handful of other local and state-wide poster and oral science competitions, which sets them up to do well in national science competitions like the North Carolina International Science Challenge.

Of the 100 Project SEED scholars selected in the first 17 years of the program, 96% attended college. Of these, 75% received full or partial scholarships and 83% were science or math majors. Between 2007 and 2011, 100% of students who were part of the program attended college; Project SEED scholars won 36 awards in national science competitions across those years.

“The students I have hosted have been incredibly bright, inquisitive, and motivated,” Reynolds says. “They have both been easy to teach and made remarkable progress in just a short time.” Reynolds notes that his two most recent mentees are likely to be credited as authors on a publication soon.

Although many students who participate in the NC-ACS Project SEED program have career journeys that take them out of the state to continue their research, to schools such as Dartmouth College, George Mason University, and even Harvard University—which Luna-Lopez will be attending in the fall as a Gates Scholar—many also remain actively connected with the North Carolina community and have brought their research expertise to in-state schools such as Wake Forest University, Duke University, UNC-CH, and NCCU.

“Before Project SEED, I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do with my career. I knew I liked science, originally biology, and wanted to explore my options. Being a part of Project SEED gave me early exposure to PhD life and collegiate research,” says Ifediora Nwakuche, a 2022 NC-ACS Project SEED alumnus and undergraduate chemistry researcher at NCCU. “Though my project wasn’t easy and consisted of elements I could not yet understand, it’s been fascinating how I began to understand those aforementioned elements—NMR [nuclear magnetic resonance], HPLC [high-performance liquid chromatography], MPLC [medium-pressure liquid chromatography]—as I learn more about chemistry and science through my courses.”

Some alumni have used their knowledge and early exposure to research to go far. Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire, who now has her own lab at Harvard, was a lead investigator at the National Institutes of Health for what would become the earliest Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccines. She had been part of the NC-ACS Project SEED program for 2 years, starting in the 10th grade at age 15.

Reynolds says that his recent mentees have stayed in touch since their time in the program ended. He says, “It’s been very rewarding to hear about the impact the experience had on their coursework and their desire to pursue science study in college.”

Nwakuche says he still stays in touch with his Project SEED mentor from 3 years ago, and he views the connections fostered from Project SEED as some of the most important in his journey, “I also met my current principal investigator, Omar Christian, at a local section meeting for the American Chemical Society, which goes to show the resources available to students who participate in Project SEED.”

Hooking students in industry

In addition to their academic lab experiences, Project SEED scholars have the option to participate in industry laboratory experiments. For the North Carolina Local Section, funding awarded via a Burroughs Wellcome Fund’s Student STEM Enrichment Program Grant—which was recently renewed through 2027—has allowed for an expansion of Friday afternoon internships at Avazyme, a contract research company located in the North Carolina Research Triangle that specializes in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, food and feed, and more.

“Early exposure to science and engineering in industry for students interested in a potential STEM career is invaluable,” says Volker Bornemann, CEO of Avazyme. “Here they get hands on introductions to modern-day gas and liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, [quantitative polymerase chain reaction], protein separations by electrophoresis [or sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis], microbiology and molecular biology, green synthesis, and more. All skills and areas of interest that you would find in life science industries. Without any actual industry exposure, how does the budding scientist learn what is out there outside of their high school, college, or university campuses?” Bornemann says that’s where companies like Avazyme and organizations like the ACS North Carolina Local Section come in to help, volunteer, and mentor.

Lopes mentors many of the students who come to intern at Avazyme. “Working on Project SEED has been a blessing,” says Lopes. “It continues to rejuvenate me.” Lopes himself grew up in the Bronx River housing projects and went to James Monroe High School in New York City’s public school system. “Despite adversity and obstacles, I learned self-respect and laid the groundwork for a full and rewarding career in the sciences . . . and others gave me a chance to succeed.”Lopes says joining Project SEED as a mentor has allowed him to help other students find their vocation. “You may also discover the difference between who you are and who you’re meant to be.” Lopes remembers “getting hooked” on chemistry in Gary Epling’s lab, where he engaged in mechanistic organic photochemistry research as a sophomore commuting to Fordham University. For Lopes, the experience was the best way to make friends and learn chemistry, “and it became a way of life.” It took many years of working in chemistry, but Lopes’s initial fears of making mistakes in the lab abated and were replaced by a reticent thrill of trying a new technique and tailoring that to a project’s needs.

“Sharing the joy of research with Project SEED students, making mistakes together, training them on safety, data integrity, and proper lab techniques will always be rewarding,” Lopes says. “I highly recommend graduates to work in a small contract lab—there are frequent opportunities to learn and adapt new instrumentation, techniques, and pathways.” He says that you’ll also learn to tinker with and sometimes fix equipment, software, and hardware, and you’ll learn to improvise.

As of March 2025, those interested in chemistry careers in industry in North Carolina, and specifically around Durham, could apply to a broad range of positions, including quality control chemist/analyst, laboratory technologist/technician, chemical account specialist, R&D project manager, process development scientist/engineer, analytical scientist, research associate, clinical laboratory scientist, production scheduler, and laboratory information management system developer. Experiences in industry could help students narrow in on what interests them most for potential future careers.

Adapting, growing, and getting involved in Project SEED

While Project SEED has been around for more than 50 years, it’s managed to adapt to the changing chemistry enterprise. Lopes says he sees labs becoming more interdisciplinary, encompassing biochemistry, molecular biology, nanochemistry, and green chemistry. He said abstracts for summer projects this year reflect the growing interest in artificial intelligence.

The program is not without its challenges. In the years since the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the NC-ACS Project SEED coordinators have noticed a few of the scholars becoming disinterested, apathetic, and unmotivated over the course of the program. In 2020 and 2021, the COVID-19 outbreak forced the cancellation of the summer on-site internships, and while students returned for the summer of 2022, it was difficult to communicate and establish a supportive and encouraging atmosphere, and students’ laboratory skills were noticeably weaker than those of other cohorts. The NC-ACS Project SEED program also has more-rigorous application requirements than other Project SEED programs and additional demands, such as enrolling and participating in a science competition, which might require weekend travel. While the rewards of success and experiences—like those of Fields, Gustus, and Luna-Lopez—are high, these requirements can all still present as hurdles. The continued success of the program relies not only on students but also on mentors and those who can connect students to the program.

Faye McNeal, the NC-ACS Project SEED scholarship coordinator, contacts guidance counselors and science teachers in Wake, Durham, Orange, and Johnston Counties each year to help recruit students. Lopes hopes that other high school teachers and counselors will help increase awareness of the program, as will events hosted by the ACS North Carolina Local Section, like National Chemistry Week and the Festival for the Eno, both of which offer hands-on chemistry demonstrations and fun activities.

The NC-ACS Project SEED program is currently seeking additional mentors in both academia and industry. Program leaders have also shared their expertise to help the ACS Western Carolinas Local Section, which includes the city of Asheville, start its first Project SEED site. You can learn more about NC-ACS Project SEED on their website and more about the entire Project SEED program on the ACS website.