TIDE camp gives students college, environmental experience
High school students with a passion for coastal science and the environment are invited to apply for a two-week summer camp at the University of Delaware.
“TIDE Camp is a great way to explore the breadth of coastal marine science, participate in a college experience and make some lifelong friends. The benefits are long-lasting, as many former campers have gone on to careers in marine and environmental science,” said Taking an Interest in Delaware's Estuary Program Coordinator Dana Veron, associate professor in the Department of Geography and director of Environmental Science and Studies.
The 13-day instructional camp will be held Sunday, July 16, to Friday, July, 28, offering hands-on field experience and overnight immersion into marine science for incoming 10th-12th-grade students, Veron said.
The cost is $2,000; scholarships are available based on financial need. Applications are available online at www.ceoe.udel.edu. Students must include a grade transcript and a letter of recommendation, preferably from a science teacher. The deadline to apply is Friday, April 7.
Students spend nearly two weeks living at UD's Newark campus and at the Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes, combining classroom time with hands-on fieldwork. Veron said their days are spent learning about sea breeze, tides, habitat loss, species adaptation, saltwater marsh filtration, sediment transport, regional and local climate change, and alternative energy.
In Newark, Veron said, students will participate in lectures and discussions. They will also work in teams to build a remotely operated vehicle and then compete with their ROVs in a series of tasks, and explore the University of Delaware's Coastal Sediment, Hydrodynamics and Engineering Lab. Students will visit the National Aquarium in Baltimore and the Stroud Water Resource Center in Avondale, Pa.
In Lewes, Veron said, students will live in the Virden Center Conference Housing and will visit the Cannon and Smith Marine Bioscience Labs and the Air-Sea Interaction Lab. Campers will also participate in fieldwork in local marshes, Inland Bays and aboard the research vessel Joanne Daiber.
Veron said students do not earn college credit, but the camp is a great way for students to meet others with like interests, while gaining experience living in a college setting and working with professors in both classroom and laboratory settings.
For more information about the camp, application process or how to sponsor a TIDE camper, visit the TIDE website or contact Veron at dveron@udel.edu.
