A Look Back on The EcoLogik Summer Experience
This Blog Post was Written by EcoLogik Strategic Marketing Intern and Youth Advisor: Ky A.
The EcoLogik Institute hosts two free summer camps annually for female and non-binary-identifying youth ages 10-15. During these camps, our campers and apprentices get hands-on experience and mentorship in a wide range of STEAM subjects ranging from Herpetology to Science Communication. Ecologik’s goal is to inspire, mentor, and train the next generation of scientists and conservationists.
Why Female Mentors in Science Are Important
This summer we had a multitude of amazing guest speakers come and mentor our campers and apprentices. One of our amazing guest speakers was Dr. Christina Symons, a marine geologist, who gave our youth a great lesson in what it means to be a scientist. Dr. Symons stated, “For me, being a scientist means being curious and using that curiosity to explore the world.” One of the main reasons we have a variety of topics during our camps is so that everyone can use their creativity to enhance their learning.
The guest speakers not only encouraged our campers to be interested in their lesson topics but also provided public speaking role models for our youth apprentices. During our camp, our youth apprentices get the opportunity to expand their leadership and public speaking skills by writing and presenting their own lessons on the STEAM topic of their choice.
One of our youth apprentices, Lucinda, gave an amazing lesson on the Scientific Method and how we use it to ask questions about and understand the natural world. Lucinda worked for weeks to prepare the lesson, memorize the content, and create engaging sections for the youth campers.
Another one of our youth apprentices, Maya, worked with one of our guest speakers and gave a Herpetology lesson and how scientists catch lizards and snakes to better understand and protect these animals at Cabrillo National Monument. All these lessons taught by our apprentices help uplift our campers and their STEAM learning.
How We Encourage Science Communication
We cover science communication concepts throughout the camp but there are three main events where the campers interact heavily with science communication.
The first event is our camper science communication project day. The campers have a whole weekend after the first week of camp to create projects about something they learned during the camp. The campers get to choose their topic and how they teach their topic. This year we had campers communicating with sculptures, paintings, songs, and more. This year (as pictured below) one of the highlights was by camper Taylor who wrote a rap about Peregrine falcons and what she learned about them at Cabrillo.
Our second event is called Women in STEM Day; various women in STEM from different fields come and network with our campers. Our campers get to learn about the different fields and how they can get to those positions if they want. The influence that having strong role models has on youth is huge, so many campers after the women in STEM day were more excited about doing well in school. The campers realized to reach their new goals they had to study and work hard to be able to get into STEM careers just like their new role models.
Our third main event is our Ecologik Exhibition Day. At the end of the camp, all parents, siblings, friends, and parkgoers of Cabrillo are invited to to talk to the campers at tables and learn about the topics covered at camp. We had campers talking about why nature photography was important, how they track reptiles at Cabrillo, and so much more! The campers get to use the skills they learned about science communication to teach other people. Not only does this give them practical experience, but it also raises their confidence in their science communication skills.
Reflecting: From Camper to Role Model
This summer was a whirlwind of fun! Being able to see youth so excited to learn and be a part of this program felt like a full-circle moment. When I attended this camp in 2017, I was so excited to learn new topics and see myself represented in STEM subjects. Now I was able to come back and be a role model for the campers.
Seeing the camper’s eyes light up when they see themselves represented in STEM fields is amazing. Many campers were extremely interested in being able to have hands-on experiences because in school they are not always given that opportunity. When youth are given the opportunity and trusted to expand their knowledge, they can do amazing things and that is what I witnessed this summer. Campers who had doubted themselves before were now reaching out to scientists around the San Diego area to ask for experiences and learn more. Our campers from this summer have already gone and done great things. We had many apply to become apprentices, some go and dive into other STEM-related experiences, and others who are teaching their community about conservation one person at a time.
About the Author: Ky is a Strategic Marketing Intern at The Ecologik Institute, they used to be an Ecologik camper and peer mentor from 2017-2019.
