Learning and Career Building Opportunities
Some of the best STEM programs and internships for teenagers in the country are provided in the Bay Area. Please visit the websites of our ever-growing colony of friends below for more information on these ongoing programs.
B.A.T.S. aims to provide you with the most up-to-date information on STEM learning and career building opportunities. “Breaking news” opportunities are regularly announced on our home page, and in more detail on our Facebook and Instagram pages. You can also get these announcements via email with the Opps For B.A.T.S. newsletter.
Other websites to check include The California STEM Network, UC Berkeley’s STAR database, Science Near Me, Pathways to Science, TeenLife, the San Francisco Unified School District Science Department, and the Rochester Institute of Technology. If you know of other STEM opportunities or resources to find them that we should be promoting, please contact us.
Use the links below to jump to a section:
- Museums and Science Centers
- Colleges and Universities
- Camps and Summer Programs
- Zoos and Aquaria
- Parks, Recreation Areas, and Preserves
- Youth and Community Organizations
- Laboratories and Other Research Facilities
- Maker Spaces
- Classroom Visits
- Resources for Exploring and Finding Jobs
Museums and Science Centers
- Youth Programs at the California Academy of Sciences
- Teen Programs at the Chabot Space & Science Center
- Teen Internship Program at the Computer History Museum
- High School Explainers at the Exploratorium
- Opportunities for Teens at the Lawrence Hall of Science
Colleges and Universities
University of California, Berkeley
- Pre-College TRIO Programs
- Summer Math And Science Honors (SMASH) Academy (in partnership with the Level Playing Field Institute)
- Girls in Engineering Program – Note: Program is for rising 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. High school students are welcome to volunteer.
- Vive Center’s ROAR Academy
- Public talks and lectures from Science at Cal
- Free tutoring from Cub Support
- Youth programs from UC Berkeley’s Society of Women Engineers (SWE) chapter
- Lawrence Hall of Science Summer Teen Research Programs and BAIR Lab High School Summer Program (artificial intelligence)
Stanford University
- Summer Math And Science Honors (SMASH) Academy (in partnership with the Level Playing Field Institute)
- Stanford Young Investigators
- Cardiothoracic Surgical Skills and Education Center Stanford Summer Internship
- Other STEM Programs for High School Students
- Astronomy lectures with the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC)
University of California, San Francisco
University of California, Santa Cruz
Sonoma State University
- Sonoma State University/Sonoma County Office of Education Summer High School Internship Program (SHIP) – Note: Program is open only to students enrolled under the Sonoma County Office of Education umbrella
University of California (various campuses)
Foothill College
- Astronomy lectures from the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series, sponsored by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, the SETI Institute, the University of California Observatories, and Foothill College.
Camps
- Summer programs from Girls Who Code
- Research program camps from the Headwaters Science Institute
- STEM bootcamps and internships with Nexgenegirls
- Computer science bootcamps from Kode with Klossy
- Expeditions from Inspiring Girls* Expeditions
- Summer and Online Camps with AI Camp
- Summer Internships with Galileo Innovation Camps
- STEM Academy with GIRL STEM STARS
- iD Tech Summer Programs with various locations to choose from
Zoos and Aquaria
- Youth Programs at the California Academy of Sciences
- Youth Crew at the Marine Mammal Center
- Teen Programs at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
- Teen Programs at the Oakland Zoo
- Teen Volunteer Opportunities at the San Francisco Zoo & Gardens
- Leadership Development Program at CuriOdyssey
Parks, Recreation Areas, and Preserves
- Inspiring Young Emerging Leaders (I-YEL) at the Crissy Field Center in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area
- Youth Crew at the Marine Mammal Center in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area
- TeenNat Program at Pepperwood Preserve
Youth and Community Organizations
- Y Scholars and Other Youth Programs at the YMCA-PG&E Teen Center
- Innovate, collaborate, and create with TeenTechSF
- Band of Environmentally Educated and Employable Teens (BEETS)
- In-house training programs with Youth Radio
- Sustainable Youth Internships with EarthTeam
- Free coding classes and workshops with Mission Bit
- Join Teens in Health to network with other high schoolers leading for science education and health advocacy
- Science talks from Popping the Science Bubble and the Berkeley Public Library
- Young adult programs from the Booker T. Washington Community Service Center
- Internships from Genesys Works
- Leadership program from Outward Bound California
Laboratories and Other Research Facilities
- Introductory College Level Experience in Microbiology (iCLEM) at the Joint BioEnergy Institute – Note: This is a summer program open only to students enrolled in high schools in Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco counties who meet certain eligibility requirements. See website for full details.
- Middle school and high school programs at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBL)
- Physics in and Through Cosmology from the Physics Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBL)
- Middle and high school programs at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Maker Spaces
- The Mix at the San Francisco Main Public Library in the San Francisco Civic Center. – Note: This FREE program pairs media mentors with teens 13-18 years old in 1:1 interest-driven learning in digital media, including 3D animation, robotics, game design, and audio and video production!
Classroom Visits
These organizations will visit your classroom, so ask your teacher to check them out and sign ’em up!
- Planet Bee Foundation is dedicated to creating a green minded generation by inspiring environmental stewardship and individual action through the teaching lens of the struggling honey bee.
Resources for Exploring and Finding Jobs
- CareerOneStop, a career and job exploration site sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor
- Tips for Teens: How to Find Your First Real Job (from resumebuilder.com)
- Many cities have youth employment programs. For example, Berkeley runs YouthWorks, a program where youth ages 14-25 get valuable work experience, training opportunities, and make some income.
- The Oakland Public Library has a great webpage for teens looking for jobs
- California’s Employment Develop Department summarizes resources and opportunities for youth on their Services for Youth page