National Academies to Fund Coastal STEM Camps Developed by USM Center for STEM Education
Mon, 11/03/2025 - 10:15am
The has awarded a team of researchers from 91少女集中营 (USM), led by Center for STEM Education Associate Director Dr. Rachel Gisewhite, $748,927 to create weeklong immersive STEM camps in Harrison County, Miss., for students in grades three through eight over a three-year period.
The camps, scheduled during quarterly and summer breaks in the year-round school calendar, will integrate nationally recognized STEM education instructional models, U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, and local environmental issues. Center-trained educators will lead students in place-based tasks such as tracking water quality, studying changes in regional biodiversity, and exploring solutions to challenges including erosion and habitat loss.
Dr. Gisewhite explained that the camps will provide students with opportunities to investigate coastal climate and resilience challenges by collecting environmental data, analyzing GIS maps of coastal vulnerabilities, and more. Students will also engage in science communication through activities such as creating public service announcements to share their vision for a resilient Gulf future.
鈥淥ur goal with the STEM Coastal Camp is to empower Gulf Coast youth to become the next generation of environmental leaders,鈥� said Gisewhite. 鈥淏y engaging students in hands-on, place-based exploration of their own coastal ecosystems, we鈥檙e helping them connect science learning to real community challenges鈥攂uilding both the knowledge and the civic agency needed to create a more resilient and sustainable future.鈥�
The team also includes Dr. Kendrick Buford and Ph.D. student Sandra Moss. In addition to supervising the camps and coordinating events with partner sites鈥攕uch as shrimping and oystering excursions through the Biloxi Cruise Company鈥攖he pair will oversee quality control of the environmental data collected by campers. As the project progresses, the team will assess the camps鈥� impact using a variety of metrics, including pre- and post-assessments, student-led projects and presentations, and community engagement tracking.
Moss developed the idea for the grant proposal and the STEMply framework鈥攁n integrated approach connecting students鈥� natural interests in building, life, movement, and art鈥攆or the camp curriculum under Gisewhite鈥檚 leadership. She will use data from the project in her dissertation to study how integrated STEM learning fosters systems thinking, creativity and sustainability.
鈥淚 want kids to have fun while discovering that learning about sustainability and tackling real-world problems can happen in ways that fit who they are,鈥� said Moss. 鈥淲hether they love to build and tinker, explore life and the environment, move and experiment with how things work, or express their ideas through art, there鈥檚 a place for them in STEM, and in protecting the Gulf.鈥�
The National Academies Gulf Research Program (GRP) is an independent, science-based initiative founded in 2013 as part of legal settlements with companies involved in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. The GRP鈥檚 mission is to develop, translate, and apply science to enhance the safety of offshore energy, the environment, and the well-being of people in the Gulf region for generations to come. It supports innovative science, guides data design and monitoring, and builds and sustains networks to generate long-term benefits for the Gulf region and the nation.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, engineering, and medicine. The National Academies operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln.