Free Tampa Bay summer camp empowers young women to explore STEM

TAMPA, Fla. - Educators are working to get more girls in the Tampa Bay Area interested in careers in science starting from a younger age.

USF and ANGARI Foundation partnered to give ninth grade girls in Pinellas County an opportunity to experience a day in the life of an oceanographer.

USF’s College of Marine Science is holding its 32nd Oceanography Camp for Girls, which is a three-week ocean science exploration camp.

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During part of the camp, ANGARI Foundation takes the campers out on its research vessel to explore several different sites around the Tampa Bay Area.

"I wish something like this existed when I was a kid, so I had no idea that marine science was even a career," ANGARI Foundation Co-founder and President Angela Rosenberg said.

The ANGARI Foundation works with USF to offer cruise explorations for students.

ANGARI Foundation said this is its sixth year doing this cruise for the camp. It operates out of West Palm Beach and does explorations around Florida and nearby islands.

"It's just amazing that they give girls an opportunity like this to even discover that they're interested in it or just find a passion in science in general," Madie Taylor, a counselor explained.

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Taylor said she attended the camp several years ago and enjoyed it so much that she decided to become a counselor.

In OCG’s 32 years, coordinators with USF say they’ve had at least 1,500 girls come through the program. They say at least 20% of them went on to pursue careers in STEM, including in teaching.

Students are inspired by the camp to pursue fields in STEM.

"You get to experience a lot of hands-on activities," Margarita Berezoeskaya, a camper shared. "And when I heard about it, I'm like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to do it because I like oceanography and this is going to be so cool.’"

Rosenberg said the research cruise gives campers hands-on experiences that they can’t get in the classroom and opens their eyes to all the opportunities in marine science.

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"We took the water samples from different parts of the ocean, and then we analyzed it using chemistry and stuff," Berezoeskaya said.

As the ANGARI research vessel cruises the waters, the campers work with USF research scientists and science mentors.

Students get hands-on experience over the course of three weeks.

"Whether it is telling the crane operator what to do, whether to lower res samples, helping deploy plankton nets, looking at samples, working with chemicals to determine the nutrient level in seawater that we collect," Rosenberg explained.

The camp is aimed at empowering more young women to explore careers in science.

"I would tell them just to not be scared of like anything," Naiya Jordan, a camper, said. "Like if you want to do something, go for it. Don't let people hold you back and don't hold yourself back."

Coordinators with USF say the camp is free to students.