In 2009, the Centre for Biological Control (CBC) in collaboration with Victoria Girls High School (VGHS) and a researcher at the South African Institute of Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) started the Science Internship Programme which was then known as the Biology Internship Programme, before other non-biological departments joined. The programme aims to encourage environmental stewardship and interest in the sciences along with initiating a positive and productive relationship between a tertiary institution and surrounding schools and learners.

The Programme welcomes Grade 10 and 11 learners onto the University camous where they work alongside researchers on our various research programmes and other entomology discipline areas. The programme has grown from accepting 5 students in the CBC to 15 students as of 2016. The programme has been successful in the years that it has been going and has expanded to include other schools such as Graeme College, Ntsika Secondary School, Nombulelo Secondary School and Mary Waters High Schols.

The Science Internship Programme generates a passion and interest in science, encouraging the pursuit of tertiary education and in terms of our goals, it has also built capacity in weed biological control and promoted public awareness about the threats posed by invasive species to South African ecosystems.

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Interns collecting samples from a river ouside of Grahamstown (Photo: Kim Weaver)	Having a closer look at what organisms were collected in the river sampling (Photo: Kim Weaver)

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Last Modified: Tue, 12 Mar 2019 12:33:12 SAST