seed2STEM is an award-winning summer research program that creates opportunities for Indigenous high school students (Grades 9-12) to participate in hands-on university research at UBC.
Building pathways for Indigenous youth in STEM research
For six weeks each summer, Indigenous youth work alongside graduate students, staff, and faculty in research labs across UBC, SFU and and affiliated hospitals and research centres, gaining real-world experience in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Since 2018, seed2STEM has placed 142 Indigenous students in research labs across UBC and other BC institutions, working in diverse fields from neuroscience and engineering to biology and physics. The program has grown from one student in its first year to over a hundred participants.
“Our primary goal is to create a bridge to STEM and help dismantle barriers to post-secondary education for Indigenous youth in B.C.,” says seed2STEM program co-founder Dr. Corree Laule, a professor in the Faculty of Medicine’s Departments of Radiology and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Vice Chair (Research) in Radiology, Director, UBC MRI Research Centre and Associate Director of Education and Training for ICORD.
(Left-Right) Back row: Cheryl Niamath, Dean Harris, Brian Kwon, Ken Sim, Mackenzie Su, Corree Laule. Front row: Shana George and Carla George.
The program recently received the City of Vancouver’s Leadership in Reconciliation Award for 2025.