MISSOULA - The Montana Natural History Center is hosting a summer camp for middle school girls so they can develop their skills in science, technology, engineering, environment, and math (STEEM).
Natural History Center Education Director Jennifer Robinson shared, "Scientists don't all look like a white man in a lab coat with goggles. This is a myth we are trying to bust."
Robinson continued, “It’s important for young women today to see themselves on screen, in textbooks, and on boards and agencies that help run and make decisions in STEEM fields. Especially for people of color and people from underrepresented minority groups in our state and in our community, when those young folks see people who look like them in those types of jobs. It can make them a lot more excited to want to pursue those opportunities because they think 'Wow! They look like me. I can do that too.”
“Part of what we do with this program is provide a bunch of female role models and scientists in the fields so that [the young girls] can see not only that there are women in these fields but how they got there too," said Natural History Center Camps Coordinator Alyssa Giffin.
As the campers start discovering who they are and who they want to be, Giffin thinks that seeing others' journeys and learning their stories is important.
This week is wildlife week and camper Mirai Morawski said the group is "Learning about all the different kinds of animals and their habitats.”
They went up to the Jocko River Fish Hatchery for a field trip.
“Fish hatcheries kind of like breed the fish,” explained camper Talia Manhan. “We got to feed the fish and learn about them and it was really fun,” added Morawski.
To learn how dogs sniff out scent trails, they even had a surprise visit from a bear. Morawski detailed, “It was Emma, she dressed up as a bear and she’s one of our counselors. She was pretending that she was wrecking this campsite that was full of food and garbage.”
The girls love that the camp uses hands on-learning and values their voices.
“In a classroom, you kind of just sit there and like you like read or like you listen to the teacher talk on and on and on and it’s a lot funner being able to like actually interact with things and also be the one who’s like talking you know," Manhan told MTN News.
The girls learned more about animal tracking by using telemetry tools.
“Somebody has a collar that they attach to a wild animal and they have radio signals that they use to track and find said animal,” explained camper Madelyn Adams.
Camper Sophia Miller added, “There’s this little thing that you can see the signal on and then it also has a key pad so you would put in 148 dot then you would do 250. Press enter and then it would start picking up the signal of the specific transmitter'."
After seeing how the devices work, there was a big game of transmitter hide and seek.
Adams and Miller took the device over near a building, thinking the electronics there could interfere with the transmitter's signal. To be even more clever, they camouflaged the device in the long grass.
“I’m gonna hide it like right back here," exclaimed Miller. "Ooo that’s a good spot,” Adams responded.
When asked which animals they would like to track on their own, Miller shared she would love to see a female elk while Adams wants to search for a bunny.
Camp organizers and counselors hope this experience will inspire the girls for the long term and help close the gender gap in STEEM.
The girls shared that they have learned a lot, are thankful for the educational experience, and that others should attend the camp in the future.
