During a trip to the Yale Peabody Museum when he was in high school, Jules Pugh had the chance to handle a meteorite. More than 4.6 million years old, the space rock predates the formation of the solar system.
The experience instantly broadened his understanding of the natural world.
"I never thought I would have the chance to hold an object that's older than our solar system," said Pugh, a 2020 graduate of New Haven's Hill Regional Career High School. "I'd never imagined that such a thing even existed. It was natural history in my hands."
At the time, Pugh was participating in EVOLUTIONS - Evoking Learning and Understanding through Investigations of the Natural Sciences, or "EVO" for short - a free afterschool program at the Peabody for high school students from New Haven and West Haven public school districts.
For Pugh, the otherworldly encounter sold him on the program.
"Experiences like that kept me coming back," he said.
EVO, which marks its 20th anniversary this year, annually provides about 100 local students experiences and instruction intended to inspire a passion for STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and help them prepare for college. Students typically enter the program as 9th- or 10th-graders and participate until they graduate high school.
Pugh, who graduated from Emory University last year, says the program was his "home away from home" during high school.
