YES! Initiative and Campus Tours

student with mentor

The Youth Engaged in Science (YES!) program is a multifaceted program aimed at exposing students from underrepresented minority (URM) backgrounds to research and related careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, and Math (STEAM) fields. YES! offers science education programs and activities to middle- and high-school students, including neuroscience workshops at schools and educational tours of the University of Minnesota (UMN) research laboratories and centers.

These activities include tours of research centers and laboratories at UMN, interactive art-aided demonstrations of scientific research and clinical practice applications at large-scale community outreach events, and panels with underrepresented students and staff in STEAM careers.

In addition, YES! offers information and resources for families on mental health disorders and the importance of community participation in research and clinical studies.

 YES! Campus Tours

highschool student on campus tour

YES! Campus Tours are aimed at middle and high school students, with the goal of getting more youth involved in STEAM fields. Taking advantage of all of the labs and programs offered throughout the U, the YES! Campus Tours are a way of getting students to experience the University and establish a sense of community and belonging.

By bringing students from URM backgrounds into contact with URM clinicians and researchers, URM students realize they belong and are welcome in the STEAM fields, contrary to what decades of systemic underrepresentation may have led them to previously believe. YES! arranges tours of the many types of research laboratories found at UMN. We connect the youth with scientists who share about their work, demonstrate the tools and technology used, and answer students' questions.

Additionally, YES! partners with many URM clinicians to ensure that youth leave our educational tours empowered by seeing successful URM STEAM leaders in the field.  During the school year, these tours would be planned for a few hours or a whole day.