CC-CREW: Community College Research Experiences at WHOI
Applications for Summer 2025 will open in January 2025. You can see the application here!
Please direct all questions about CC-CREW to Gretta Serres: mserres@whoi.edu
Summer: CC-CREW is a paid ($17/hr), full-time, non-residential summer research experience for regional (Massachusetts and Rhode Island) community college students. Every summer, we host 6-8 students at WHOI for 9 weeks (last year was June 10 - August 8, ~40hrs/wk). Students participate in ocean science and engineering research, attended lectures and meetings, take local field trips, and receive mentoring on the transition from a community college to a four-year college. At the end of the summer, research results are presented to an audience of peers and mentors. The program is sponsored by NSF, WHOI and the Cape Cod Community College STEM Starter Academy. Dr. Gretta Serres works with the students on a weekly basis to introduce basic lab protocols, attend lectures and workshops, learn about STEM careers at an institution like WHOI, and meet with WHOI scientists and alumni of the CC-CREW program. Previous students in the program have come to us from Cape Cod CC, Massasoit CC, Mt Wachusett CC, Bunker Hill CC, North Shore CC, Holyoke CC, Bristol CC, Quinsigamond CC, and Rhode Island CC. While most students commute daily, some students do seek temporary housing in the Falmouth area. Please ask early if that is needed!
School Year: A for-credit CC-CREW program is also offered during the fall or spring semester through 4Cs and WHOI- this can be for 1, 2, or 3 credits, and is a paid opportunity. Please contact mserres@whoi.edu if interested. In addition, in partnership with WHOI Academic Programs, we offer a short course combined with an 50 hr internship for 4Cs students called the Blue Econmy Internship during January term. Some of our CC-CREW students started in this program. Learn more here.
Application Qualifications for CC-CREW:
- Be excited about STEM and learn more about research
- When applying, you must have graduated from High School (or equivalent GED) and be enrolled at a regional Community College
- Have completed 2 community college STEM courses. Ask if you aren't sure!
The application process includes answering a few questions about yourself as well as uploading an (un)official college transcript. One reference letter from a Community College instructor is required. A second reference is optional from a job supervisor, another instructor, or another supervisor. Guidance on how to ask for those letters is provided here.
Our alumni have almost all successfully transitioned to a 4-year college or university, all majoring in a variety of STEM fields. Below shows the colleges they went to after their time in our program. Most of our students are now employed as engineers, scientists, and a couple are even in graduate school. Every year, we ask a few of them to come back and tell their story to help support new students in their educational and STEM journey! Read about Class of 2015 Nick O'Sadcia, who is now an Alvin pilot, making him qualified to pilot the deepest-diving US-supported research submarine!
Funding Agencies
Funding for this program is provided by
- National Science Foundation
- Cape Cod Starter Academy through the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education
- WHOI
- Let us know if you would like to support this program! Email Julie