10 Data Science Volunteering Opportunities for High School Students
If you’re an ambitious high school student interested in data science and looking to build a portfolio, you might want to consider volunteering opportunities! Volunteering can be a highly rewarding experience and will allow you to gain real-world experience in data science!
While you might be aware of the classical volunteering opportunities like working at an NGO or participating in an environmental awareness campaign, it might be a bit tricky to offer your services to make a change if you are interested in tech. The good news is that a lot of organizations across the globe are making use of various technological advances for the betterment of societies.
Volunteering is a win-win situation for everyone involved as you get to contribute in your free time, and the organization can make a difference using your contributions. Apart from that, the right volunteer opportunity will also boost your college application if it aligns well with your future goals.
With that being said, in this blog, we discuss 10 data science volunteering opportunities for high school students.
1. Langley Student Volunteer Program
The Langley Student Volunteer Program (LSVP) offers unpaid study-related work experience for students currently enrolled in high school, trade school, technical or vocational institute, junior college, college, university, or a comparable recognized educational institution.
If you’re interested in data science, you could work in the Science Directorate (SD) at NASA Langley Research Center to explore the data collection and analysis in areas of Atmospheric Composition, Air Quality, Earth’s Energy Budget and Lidar Remote Sensing.
Through this program, you will be exposed to the Federal work environment and learn about the missions and responsibilities of NASA Langley. An added benefit is your student mentor, who will guide you with work experience and knowledge and help you engage in early career exploration.
Location: NASA Langley Research Center or virtual, depending on the student’s location
Time Commitment: 13 weeks during the summer or 13 weeks in the spring of 2025
2. NASA Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI) Internship
The NASA Science Mission Directorate’s Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI) program is an interdisciplinary opportunity that allows high school students interested in data science and analytics to contribute to real-life projects that allow policymakers to make science-based decisions related to climate change. Students will get to contribute to the following projects -
Characterizing the Urban Land Surface Temperature.
Land Surface Temperature via Satellite and Remote Sensing Technologies
Extreme Climate Events in Climate Models and Measurements
Monitoring and Studying Lakes from Space in a Changing Climate (Offline session also held at CUNY City College of Technology in New York City)
Climate Change in the Hudson Estuary
SnowEx and Understanding the Role of Snow and Measurements
Location: Virtual and some visits to the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), New York, NY
Time Commitment: Two months during the summer
3. Volunteer at the Marine Debris Monitoring and Assessment Project MDMAP of the NOAA
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has a dedicated database that includes opportunities for students of any level — from kindergarten through high school, undergraduate and graduate, and even recent graduates. Most of them are in the field of climate change research and also involve some groundwork.
A few of their ongoing projects, like the Marine Debris Monitoring and Assessment Project, or MDMAP, can be a great place for students interested in data science to do some volunteer work. The project deals with cataloging marine debris and updating the nationwide database. You can contribute to it by helping map the data in your region and also get to work on some of the interesting projects involving data analysis of marine debris.
Location: Virtual
Time Commitment: Varies according to the region of data collection
4. Become a Mentor at Science Buddies
Science Buddies is a non-profit organization that provides resources for K-12 science education. To volunteer you must be at least in the 10th grade. You must have previous science exhibition/ project experience and are expected to have sound knowledge of scientific principles alongside strong grades in science and math courses (A’s or B’s).
Through this opportunity, you will mentor and guide other students in their science projects and answer general scientific queries via the ‘Ask an Expert’ online forum. You can also provide your project ideas, including data science topics, on the forum and directly engage with others. Exceptional mentors are also eligible for a cash prize!
Location: Virtual
Time Commitment: 30 minutes per week, from September through May
5. Contribute to The Ocean Project
The Ocean Project is an organization involved in promoting collective action for a healthy ocean and a stable climate. The goal of the organization is to actively engage the public, particularly the youth, the government, and corporate bodies in ocean conservation efforts. Since 2009, it has initiated youth engagement programs to support local aquariums, zoos, and museums in raising awareness about conservation.
They are open to volunteer internships year-round across multiple fields, including data collection, data cleaning, and analysis. Students interested in applying data science skills in real life can approach the team and get assigned a relevant project, which might include collecting data points or maintaining an online library.
Location: Virtual
Time Commitment: At least 10 hours/week, and internship durations can vary
6. CDC’s Student Worksite Experience Program – Volunteer Service
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the national public health agency of the USA. As with any field, big data is crucial in healthcare and CDC also actively makes use of data science techniques in its research.
CDC has some enriching student opportunities. One is the Student Worksite Experience Program – Volunteer Service program, under which students are allowed to carry out volunteer work in any of the selected (CIOs) Charitable Incorporated Organisations.
Most of the projects that the volunteers get to work on help them learn about the collection and analysis of data and the use of that data to improve people’s health. An added bonus is that you can earn academic credit for the work you do at CDC!
Location: Virtual/ Depends on the project you are allowed
Time Commitment: 6 Months
Changing The Present is a non-profit organization that is involved in charitable work throughout the USA. They use the concept of gift cards to fund their operations so that the receiver can use the cards at any of the select charities that have partnered with Changing the Present.
They are open to volunteering around the year and recruit high-performing students as volunteer interns in Data Science, Data Analytics, Business Analytics, Google Analytics, and related fields.
Location: Virtual
Time Commitment: 4 to 40 hours per week, and the volunteering duration is flexible
8. Volunteer with Statistics Without Borders (SWB)
Statistics Without Borders (SWB) is a volunteer outreach group of the American Statistical Association (ASA) that was established in 2008. The organisation aims to provide pro bono statistical and data science services for the betterment of human life. The organization is open to volunteers around the year, and while most of the volunteers are experienced individuals, the program is also open to high school students.
You can contribute to data science courses if you have enough knowledge to explore various analysis methods with others, depending on the project requirements.
Location: Virtual
Time Commitment: Will be discussed upon project assignment
9. Stanford Young Investigators
The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability offers high school students a summer internship program in which they work in research groups and laboratories in the fields of oceanography, Earth and planetary sciences, energy and the social sciences! sciences. This program is only open to San Francisco Bay Area students living within a 25-driving mile radius of the campus.
There are multiple projects that the students can pursue, and the Geology program, in particular, is inclined more towards data science and data analysis, as a solid understanding of mathematics, physics, and computer programming is a prerequisite for the same. Some students worked on building databases for forest fires, while another student worked on government data regarding electricity generation using natural gas and oil. You can check out this blog for some past projects.
Location: Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Time Commitment: Third Tuesday of June to First Thursday of August
10. Girls Who Code
Girls Who Code is an organization that aims to empower girls who are in high school to pursue an education in computer science and data science. They do this via various summer programs and also a college program that helps their members build a supportive community for students pursuing computer science in college. One of the ways in which high school students can volunteer with this organization is via clubs on the school level.
While many schools already have a club in partnership with Girls Who Code, where regular seminars and fun activities around coding are planned regularly. If your high school does not have such a club, you can apply for one directly on their website! In this club, you can share your data science expertise with middle school students, usually after school hours or during weekends.
Location: One of the Girls Who Score clubs or your high school
Time Commitment: Flexible and depends on you
If you’re looking to build unique projects in the field of AI/ML, consider applying to Veritas AI!
Veritas AI was founded by Harvard graduate students, and through the programs, you get a chance to learn the fundamentals of AI and computer science while collaborating on real-world projects. You can also work 1-1 with mentors from universities like Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and more to create unique, personalized projects. In the past year, we had over 1000 students learn data science and AI with us. You can apply here!
Image Source - NASA Logo