High School Initiative in Remote Sensing of the Earth Systems Engineering and Sciences (HIRES)

The High School Initiative in Remote Sensing of the Earth Systems Engineering and Sciences (HIRES) is a paid summer research internship for New York City public and charter high school students, run by the CUNY Remote Sensing Earth System Institute (CREST) at The City College of New York. Founded in 2013 with support from the Pinkerton Foundation, it gives students hands-on experience in earth science, engineering and satellite data. The program runs in person at City College in Manhattan between June and August. It opens with a reception and a one-week orientation, followed by a seven-week program. Interns take pre-college credit courses in GIS, remote sensing and MATLAB or Python, work on team research projects with CUNY faculty and graduate mentors, and go on field trips. At the end of the summer, students present their research at a symposium. Students who finish the full program receive a $1,000 stipend and 3 college credits. Up to 25 students are chosen each year from close to 100 applicants.

Applicants must attend a New York City Department of Education public or charter high school and be enrolled in or have completed Algebra 1 and 2 with at least a B average, and/or pre-calculus. They also need qualifying scores in reading/writing (SAT Reading 480+, ACT English 20+, or NYS English Regents 75+) and in math (SAT Math 500+, ACT Math 21+, or qualifying NYS math Regents scores plus completion of Algebra 2/Trigonometry or higher). The application, emailed to the program, includes a statement of interest, a high school transcript, Regents/PSAT/SAT scores, and a teacher recommendation letter. Applications usually open in January and are due in March, with decisions sent in April. The 2026 deadline has passed.