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Residential Research Camp Program

During the DIG CAMP ten-day long summer program, high school students and undergraduate mentors lived together on campus, ate in the campus dining halls, used campus laundry facilities and toured labs, classrooms, and some of the mentors’ favorite places on campus. Downtime activities included get-to-know-you games, making reusable bags with Japanese fish printing (gyotaku), visiting the Boardwalk for amusement park rides and having bonfires at the beach. 

Our program was co-facilitated with our undergraduate student mentors, who also shared their own STEM learning goals and discussed their personal college pathway experiences. Together the high school and undergraduate mentors:

  • Engaged in field work, 
  • Conducted data-driven geosciences research projects that were personally relevant.
  • Used relevant data sets and data visualizations, 
  • Examined a range of geosciences and applied geosciences careers and college pathways. 

Find a sample ten-day long agenda here.

DIG CAMP students work on a climate change concept map
DIG CAMP students create models to explain the inner workings of a "mystery tube"
Students standing in front of strawberry field while instructor provides information on agricultural practices
Students and instructor stand around tub of seaweed in water.
Students in hard hats, reflective orange vests, safety goggles stand in warehouse.
Students and instructor crowd around dumpster.

STEM Pathway Follow-up Days

During the DIG CAMP follow-up days, students and undergraduate mentors met to focus on college and career preparation. The follow up days aimed to support each high school student with their college and career pathway, providing college campus tours (often organized and led by Latine campus student organizations, e.g., SACNAS), organization tools for the college application process, and expert and ongoing advice on college pathways and STEM careers. Follow-up day agendas were created with survey input collected from the high school students at the end of the summer program and between follow-up days.

Find follow-up day resources here.