Girls encouraged to pursue STEM during weekend science camp

A science camp this weekend at UNC's Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City is hoping to encourage high school girls to pursue a future in a STEM field.

Molly Bost, PHD candidate UNC IMS says, "It's really great. I think it's definitely something that we need and I was fortunate enough to be able to go to science camps when I was younger and i'm just glad we can provide this free event for girls in the local surrounding counties."

On Saturday nearly 100 high school girls will take part in the day long event all focused on getting girls interested in different STEM fields.

Carson Miller, grad student says, "Research also shows if they have a woman in STEM that they know or get to see what a day in the life of a scientist really looks like they start to become more confident in their ability to succeed in STEM."

This is the first year a program like this has existed for high school aged girls and the event will give them a chance to explore different types of science and technology.

Jillian Wisse, Duke PHD candidate says, "I study whales at Duke with a group of researchers and we've made an activity where we're going to show the technology we use to study the whales and teach the girls how we use it and how we interpret the data."

Amy Yarnall,PHD candidate UNC IMS says, "I'll be leading an activity where the girls can come in and help identify fish using what we call a dichotomous key so they'll move step by step through the key and at the end they'll be able to tell what fish they have in front of them."

The event is free for girls in grades 9-12 and organizers say while it is full there is a wait list and they are encouraging girls to sign up.