Summer physics camp students learn about the properties of light as part of a hands-on activity. Photo courtesy of LANL.
LANL News Release
The 2024 Summer Girls Physics Camp took place June 10-21 at the New Mexico School of the Arts in Santa Fe. Now in its eighth year, the free, two-week camp welcomed 34 New Mexico students from 15 school districts. Such broad participation was made possible because, for the first time, the camp offered free lodging.
Students from Bernalillo, Lee, Los Alamos, Otero, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, San Juan, San Miguel and Santa Fe counties participated in the camp. The camp is open to all applicants who have completed Algebra 1 in middle school or high school, with an emphasis on underrepresented populations in STEM fields.
“The goal of the camp is to expose students to a variety of activities, show them that STEM can be creative and fun, and provide them with the tools and connections to be successful,” said camp founder and co-organizer Anna Lovett. “Our volunteer scientists, engineers, technical and professional staff act as role models, share their career paths, and communicate a genuine interest in the students’ success.”
About half of the students took advantage of the free overnight option, allowing participants who couldn’t commute to Santa Fe every day to attend camp.
“This was a unique opportunity for students from several Native American communities (Navajo, Jicarilla Apache and Mescalero Apache) as well as students from as far away as Mescalero, Aztec, Farmington, Alamogordo, Mayhill and Hobbs,” Lovett said. “The accommodation option also allowed our group from Hilo, Hawaii, to participate in person, with the unwavering support of the Hawaii State Department of Education and the Hawaii Science and Technology Museum. This fostered further integration among students and the sharing of our cultures.”
With the help of more than 140 volunteers from Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories (BW1) and others, the camp explored themes related to energy and energy security, providing students with an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of how STEM improves the world through hands-on activities, demonstrations, tours, talks and multi-day engineering projects.
“The lectures and labs helped students discover career paths they had not known about before and identify role models they could identify with,” Lovett said.
Students also learned professional skills, such as resume writing and mock interviews, and had the opportunity to speak with representatives from New Mexico universities and colleges.
Students will be encouraged to apply for internships at national laboratories after camp, and participants will participate in the national SAGE Journey program, which brings together DOE laboratories to increase diversity in STEM and provide pathways to internships and jobs.
“Our goal is to expose New Mexico’s brightest students not only to physics, but also to other areas of the lab, including chemistry, engineering and computer science,” says co-organizer Andrea Albert. “We must be doing a good job of creating a pipeline to the lab, because this summer 33 campers ended up interning at the lab!”
The two weeks also included tours of laboratory facilities such as the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.
The camp was made possible by volunteer staff from Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, and donations from the following organizations, who provided room and board, and supplies: LANL Foundation, New Mexico Consortium, American Chemical Society, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, American Physical Society Four Corners, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, N3B, Science Accelerating Girls’ Engagement, Los Alamos Women Scientists, Waste Management Symposium, Pueblo Alliance, Coach Herrera, Hawaii Science and Technology Museum, and Hawaii State Department of Education.
