About

The STEM Enhancement in Earth Science (SEES) program is NASA’s premier high school internship in space and earth sciences. Run by the University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Space Research in partnership with NASA, SEES spans six weeks each summer: two weeks of online coursework followed by four residential weeks in Austin. The program is free of charge and covers housing and meals, making it one of the most accessible and elite STEM opportunities in the country.

Open to US students, SEES is highly selective: in 2024 it received over 2,000 applications for just over two hundred places. The program is open to rising juniors and seniors nationwide. Applications require essays, transcripts, recommendations, and a demonstrated passion for space or earth science. In order to better know its applicants SEES also requires a 3-5 minute video as part of the application. A key nuance is project placement: students are admitted into specific NASA research teams, and selection depends on both applicant strength and whether faculty see a fit for their projects—an extra filter that raises the effective bar.

Students begin online with modules in remote sensing and earth science, then travel to UT Austin for four weeks of immersive work. Research projects vary each year but commonly include climate modeling, hurricane tracking, wildfire mapping, satellite remote sensing, lunar geology, and planetary surface analysis. Students use the same NASA satellite datasets that professional scientists analyze, and they present their findings in a capstone symposium attended by NASA researchers. Beyond the lab, participants join field trips, seminars, and community-building activities, living in UT dorms and working in teams that mirror real NASA research groups.

Many SEES alumni have published their projects or presented at conferences, and some have leveraged SEES research for Regeneron STS or ISEF submissions. SEES is NASA-backed, highly selective, and tuition-free—and for a certain type of student no program is more exciting. Unsurprisingly, SEES carries real weight on an application and is known and respected by any top admissions office.