Third Year of Women in Science and Sailing Camp Inspires Next Generation of Scientists and Explorers

By Alison Spasyk, Watershed Alliance Graduate Assistant
October 01, 2024

This summer, Lake Champlain Sea Grant partnered with the Community Sailing Center in Burlington to host the third year of the Women in Science & Sailing Camp. For a week in August, ten female identifying campers ages 11­–15 learned how to sail and engage in hands-on STEM activities aimed at exploring lake and watershed science. Women have historically been underrepresented in STEM fields and this camp makes an effort to introduce campers to female role models working in limnology and lake science, as well as introduce them to other water-related careers.

“Through our partnership with Sea Grant, we are able to provide young women with the opportunity to learn new sailing and STEM skills, become passionate stewards of Lake Champlain, and access a unique educational and recreational experience,” shared John Nagle, Program Director at the Community Sailing Center.

Afternoons were spent with the Lake Champlain Sea Grant’s Watershed Alliance staff and female-identifying researchers at the UVM Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory. Campers worked alongside researchers to explore issues facing Lake Champlain like harmful algal blooms, climate change, and lake trout restoration.

“This program is a unique opportunity to have a group of aspiring scientists working with our researchers at the lab, exploring what it means to be a scientist,” said Ashley Eaton, Watershed and Lake Education Coordinator. “Campers get to interact with a range of scientists from different stages of their careers and ask them questions about their academic and professional pathways.”

To prepare the campers for collecting phytoplankton on the research vessel, they got the opportunity to learn about freshwater algae from Rachel Cray, a PhD student at UVM in the Morales-Williams lab studying phytoplankton ecology. Cray explained her research, the role of phytoplankton worldwide, and the major algal taxa found in Lake Champlain. She also talked about her pathway into science and created a phytoplankton Bingo activity to practice identifying common species.

“The opportunity to share my knowledge about our lake's smallest inhabitants was a highlight of my summer,” said Cray. “Watching the students’ eyes light up when they identified an algal cell from a water sample was just as fun for me as it was for them!”

The highlight of the week for many of the campers was spending time aboard the R/V Marcelle Melosira learning about lake ecology. Campers got the opportunity to take water clarity measurements, collect samples using plankton nets, and identify phytoplankton and zooplankton under the microscope. This year, they even tested the deployment of a brand-new rosette sampler. This is a device used in limnologic and oceanographic sampling to collect discrete water samples at varying depths and other measurements (such as dissolved oxygen, light, and temperature) of the water column.

The Women in Science and Sailing Camp runs each year in early August and is open to girls, femme-identifying, and non-binary youth ages 11–15. Please visit the Community Sailing Center website to learn more and sign up for future summer camp programs.