All-girls camp introducing Bay Area students to STEM careers
TAMPA - At the Mission Tampa Bay Camp, around 20 middle school girls are connecting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and the real world. An all-girls camp is a purposeful decision.
"With only a third of the STEM workforce being female and a need for diversity, this camp shows these kids what is open to them, like what the possibilities are and how they can follow so many different career paths and still be associated with STEM," environmental engineer Dr. Tracy Fanara said.
Scientists from NOAA gave the campers a mock scenario that they must help solve during the week. This year, they are facing a manatee mortality event. To tackle that problem, campers are partnering with several organizations in Tampa.
On Monday, campers called MOSI home, building small ROVs (remotely-operated vehicles) and water filters. Part of that build involved soldering circuit boards.
"My favorite part definitely is the builds, just getting your hands on and seeing, like, a problem solution and just constantly having to fix anything that goes wrong because something like, no matter what you do, always something goes wrong," incoming Newsome High School freshman Mona Helwa said. "If I see it and I see that it's not working and I can feel around to see how you can fix it, that's just what I like about it."
On Tuesday, campers visited ZooTampa to learn all about manatees and wildlife conservation. On Wednesday, they tested their ROVs in the waters of The Florida Aquarium. After those tests, campers and instructors worked together to work out the bugs before a big Thursday.
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"They're going to bring these ROVs out to the real world. We're going on a catamaran, so they can search for seagrass and any other threats that the manatees may face," Fanara explained.
The camp wraps up on Friday, when campers will present their findings and ideas to scientists at NOAA.
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"To feel empowered to do this, like I just feel this inspiration," incoming Hillsborough High School freshman Aniyah Betancourt said. "I hope when I grow up in my 30s, I hope kids and babies look at me like ‘I want to be like her one day’ or like ‘I'm inspired by her, I want to do something like that.’"
Mission Tampa Bay is funded by a five-year grant from the Department of Defense. Teachers referred many of the participants, focusing on students involved in STEM and robotics clubs.
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