Did you know that a program at UAS in partnership with the Southeast Alaska Tribal Ocean Research Network (SEATOR) encourages and educates high school students about the interconnection between environmental and human health and provides an ideal first step to encourage high school grads to pursue a college degree? The Rural Alaska Students in One-Health Research [RASOR] program connects students with community mentors who assist them with research projects. 

Now in its second year, the program directors continue to track the accomplishments of the high school students in the first cohort [2019-2020] including several who have started college.

Margaret Peterson is one of those students. She was a high school senior in Sitka when she participated in the program. Now a freshman in the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at UAF, Margaret says her time in the RASOR directly contributed to her decision to study marine biology at UAF. 

Peterson heard about the RASOR program through a teacher at Sitka High School and while participating in the program she gained valuable knowledge and skills to thrive in college. Peterson is now part of the BLaST (Biomedical Learning and Student Training) program at UAF –– a leader in OneHealth research in Alaska. She is currently studying mercury levels in Pacific Cod. Because of her experience in UAS’ RASOR program and now as a college student in the UAF BLaST program, Peterson says she wants to go on to graduate school and seek a career in marine biology.