Marine science day camp for girls planned at UTMSI on March 28




Career opportunities for women is the focus of the second annual Women in Marine Science Day on Saturday, March 28, at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute.

Girls in grades f ifth through eighth may explore the field of marine science from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Visitor Center, 630 E. Cotter Ave.

Registration is now open for the camp. To register go to the following website and click on Women in Marine Science Program: utdirect. utexas.edu/txshop/list. WBX?component=0&application_ name=MRMARINE.

Parents are asked to print, fill out and bring the student release form for each child attending on the day of the program.

The cost of the camp is $5 per student and Women in Marine Science T-shirts also may be ordered for $12 each.

Sara Pelleteri, K-12 Education Program Administrator at the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve, said this about why the camp was created: “In a 2010 study done by the American Association of University Women entitled ‘Why Are So Few Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics?’ it was shown that the number of women in science and engineering is growing, yet men continue to outnumber women, especially at the upper levels of these professions. In elementary through high school, girls and boys take math and science courses in roughly equal numbers, and about as many girls as boys leave high school prepared to pursue science and engineering majors in college. Yet fewer women than men pursue these majors. Drawing on a large and diverse body of research, this report presents eight recent research findings that provide evidence that social and environmental factors contribute to the under representation of women in science and engineering. One finding shows that when teachers and parents tell girls that their intelligence can expand with experience and learning, girls do better on math tests and are more likely to say they want to continue to study math in the future. By creating a ‘growth mindset’ environment, teachers and parents can encourage girls’ achievement and interest in math and science.”

Participants in the camp will have the opportunity to explore the field of marine science with hands-on activities led by female scientists from UTMSI.

The girls will be asked to choose the top three activities from the following list that they would like to attend at the camp.

• Carrie Harris, Trawling Game: How sustainable is trawling for flatfish?

• Christina Bonsell and Jordan Young, Ocean Space Race: Use of settlement tiles to observe what organisms are fighting for space (and which ones are winning) under the water’s surface.

• Dr. Deanna Erdner, Color My World: Separate algal pigments to uncover the rainbow inside of marine algae.

• Erin Reed, Ichthyology: Explore the life history of fishes.

• Katheryn Ondricek, Fish Dissection: Explore the anatomy of marine fish.

• Dr. Lindsay Scheef and Tracy Harvey, Swim to the Light: Observe the behaviors of light preferences of brine shrimp.

• Liz Brown, Fish Fitness: Observe how fish behavior changes with temperature fluctuations.

• Dr. Amber Hardison, Meredith Evans and Shuting Liu, Become a marine detective: Use biogeochemistry tools to locate the source of mystery waters.

• Sara Garcia, Sediment Lab: Look at different types of marine sediment and discover what’s living inside.

• Xana Hermosillo, Phytoplankton: Take a closer look at the tiny plants drifting through the ocean.

For more information call (361) 749-3153.



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