RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
FOR TEACHERS

CASFER
RET Program

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center for Advancing Sustainable and Distributed Fertilizer Production (CASFER) strives to solve one of the most pressing problems facing humankind: How do we feed the growing world population?

CASFER hosts a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program every year during the summer. Our RET participants are talented teachers eager to learn best research practices while joining CASFER research teams. Teachers will be placed in a wide range of projects, working directly with faculty, graduate and undergraduate students in hands-on lab work together with educational materials available to be used in their schools. In addition, teachers will attend professional development seminars to further develop their communication skills and receive mentorship from education experts to integrate some of the knowledge acquire in the program into their classes.

RET Program 2026

Program Dates: June 8 - July 3 and July 13 - July 24, 2026

Application Deadline: March 6

The CASFER 2026 Summer RET Program will be housed at Texas Tech University and at MIT. Teachers will receive training in a laboratory environment and be expected to assist with active research projects. RET teachers will work closely with scientists and researchers of the university, as well as, graduate and undergraduate students from various CASFER labs and programs. In addition, all teachers will participate in educational seminars where they will learn how to integrate CASFER content into their classrooms. This program is designed to provide teachers with hands-on laboratory experience in various projects and disciplines and integration into their classrooms.

Eligibility Requirements:

Educators currently teaching middle school or high school STEM Subjects
Available and able to commit to six weeks (Mon - Fri, 8:30am-4:30pm)
Willing to incorporate classroom activities and learning outcomes in the following academic year
Must be eligible to work in the U.S.

Application Materials:

Resume
Statement of Purpose (explaining why you are interested in this program/project)
Unofficial Transcript
One Letter of Recommendation

Teachers Will Receive

A Weekly Stipend
CASFER RET Certificate
Opportunity for professional development working with university researchers
The opportunity to present their research at a CASFER research conference/workshop
The opportunity to test the developed STEM curriculum in their classrooms next year
On campus housing will be provided for those who need it

Apply Now

To apply, please click on the link above and fill out all of the necessary information. Additionally please make sure all of the application materials are emailed as a PDF to Zaida Gracia (zaida.gracia@ttu.edu).

2026 RET Projects

Institution	Faculty	Topic
MIT	Ariel Furst	Incorporation of Microbial Mixtures with E-GROW and Their Impact on Germination
MIT	Ariel Furst	E-GROW Evaluation for Volatile Small-molecule Compounds Contribution to Negative Smells, Total Available N, and Total Available P
MIT	Ariel Furst	Individual Soil-derived Bacterial and Fungal Strains + E-GROW, and Their Contribution to Negative Smells Reduction, Total Available N, and Total Available P
MIT	Ariel Furst	Germination Soybeans and Corn Tests for Strains + E-GROW
TTU	Balaji Rao	Chemical Composition of EGROW and Fate of Impurities
TTU	Gerri Botte	Process Intensification System for Ammonia Recovery and Deliver by Modular System Design, Integration and Bench Scale Demonstration
TTU	Gerri Botte	Electrocatalysis of Biosolids: Fundamental Understanding of Electrolysis of Complex Feedstocks
TTU	Gerri Botte	Electrocatalysis of Biosolids: Optimization of Nutrient Recovery and Volatile Fatty Acids (VFA) Production
TTU	Lindsey Slaughter	Soil Nutrient Cycling and Outcomes: EGROW Properties, Runoff, or Different Application Methods to Incubated Soil Samples