Cal NERDS

New Experiences for Research and Diversity in Science

NERDS Give Back: Community Service Outreach Projects

Developing socially responsible NERDS.

Our Fall 2020 Outreach Event
Our Fall 2020 Outreach Event

November 2019 Cal NERDS Research Scholar Diana shares her research with AVID kids
November 2019 Cal NERDS Research Scholar Diana shares her research with AVID kids
NERDS enjoying their philanthropic team bike building experience
NERDS enjoying their philanthropic team bike building experience

July 2019 Outreach Event

July 2019 Outreach Event

Mini NERD olympics winners - engineering structures
Mini NERD olympics winners - engineering structures

Soda rockets inspire kids to see how fun Science can be
Soda rockets inspire kids to see how fun Science can be

Incorporating service projects to help our various communities is a high impact experience for Cal NERD Scholars. It also teaches team building, project management, and leadership skills. In 2020 we are involved with a few virtual college day experiences for Lake Elementary in San Pablo and also an AVID high school program in Yolo County. In 2019, we hosted various groups, including Northern Arizona University NSF LSAMP students, Junior High AVID kids, and Biotech Partners High School program for an outreach day at Cal that involved a campus tour, visiting research labs, discussing STEM, and promoting community building.

March 2018 NERD Patrol with Visiting Students

March 2018 NERD Patrol gives campus tour

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Sixth grader learns about polymers!
Sixth grader at a Spanish immersion school learns about polymers (October 2017)!

October 2017, we enjoyed going to Cesar Chavez Elementary and doing science experiments with sixth graders!

Jesse Bethel High School Visit (March 2017)
Jesse Bethel High School (from Vallejo) Visit (March 2017)

This fall 2018 we are partnering with Cal@Science to get kids excited about science through the Bay Area Science Festival. We are also hosting high school students from Biotech Partners Program. This past summer we partnered with UC Berkeley’s Upward Bound program for a wonderful mini-NERDS Olympics experience. Spring 2019 we will be teaching 3D printing to CEP high school students.


Here is a highlight from summer 2016, our service project was doing hands-on science experiments at bay area school - Roosevelt Elementary (this video shows how excited some of the kids were).

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/07/13/nerds-group-supports-students-striving-for-stem-careers)/

Additional Past Highlights

  • College NERD academy with St. Hope - Sacramento Charter High School
  • NERD Patrol Ambassadors for the Native American Heritage Kick-off Luncheon
  • Mini NERD Olympics with the African American Male High School Pipeline Project
  • NERD Patrol Ambassadors for the Puente Community College Transfer College Conference hosted by UC Berkeley
  • YMCA Kids Science Day
  • Individual and Group Diversity STEM High School Campus Visits
  • Building Mechanical Hands to donate to communities in Africa
  • Philanthropic team bike building for local kids in need
  • Power Shopping at the Math Mall - 7th/8th grade girls Math Experience
  • The Chemistry of an Aquarium