In the shadow of Mount St. Helens this week, a group of middle school girls and ecological experts had private dance parties and studied volcanoes within view of the mountain's infamous crater.
On Monday morning, 20 middle school girls, four high school mentors and four teacher mentors from all across Oregon and Washington met up at the Cascades Volcano Observatory and set out for a special summer camp near the region's most famous volcano.
The GeoGirls — an appropriate name for the students and the title of the geology summer camp — spent the next five days forging bonds and learning from experts in the fields of geology and volcanology.
For Vivienne Milner, a middle school student from the Portland area, it was just another normal day in her science class when she saw a flyer about GeoGirls. At the time, she was fascinated by many different fields of science — physics, chemistry, biology — but she didn’t know as much about geology.
Milner assumed her focus on other sciences would mean her application to the program was a long shot. She applied anyway, looking for a challenge and hoping to learn as much as she could about geology.
“I want to go out there and I want to see. I want to learn about Mount St. Helens, and I want to learn about all of these cool things that I don't know about yet and that I haven't been able to be exposed to yet,” Milner said.
In a small surprise, Milner got in. She was not disappointed.
On Thursday, the last full day of the program, Milner reflected on her experience so far at the camp. Her words reflected an opportunity to learn from experts and a taste of the classic American summer camp experience.
“It was just wonderful to be around people who were really interested in this, and I just remember that when we first got into the van and we started playing music,” Milner said, “it was just like I felt so at home.”
Each summer, the Mount St. Helens Institute gathers girls at the Mount St. Helens Science and Learning Center at Coldwater, near the foot of the mountain, and transforms its cafeteria and an exhibit space into bunk rooms and learning areas to welcome the GeoGirls.
The camp, which was originally the brainchild of then doctoral candidate Kate Allstadt, has since become an annual program for the Mount St. Helens Institute.
The camp is organized in large part by the institute's co-executive directors, Abi Groskopf and Alyssa Hoyt, and made possible with the help of many volunteers such as U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Geologist and Communications Specialist Liz Westby, who has volunteered with the program since day one.
Many women and experts in their fields come to the center to dedicate a week of their time to the program.
On Thursday, USGS Volcano Seismologist Alicia Hotovec-Ellis taught a group how she uses seismometers and other instruments to monitor and measure volcanic activity at the California Volcano Observatory in Eastern California.
In the afternoon, she led a short expedition to a hill outside of the institute where students learned to set up seismographic instruments. After setting up, the girls would stomp, scream, drop rocks, bang sticks or whatever else to see exactly what a seismometer detects and how it might compare to true volcanic activity.
According to Groskopf, the program sees about half of its experts return each year and about half are new. When asked how they recruit for volunteers, she smiled and added that the geological community, while spread out, is a close-knit group. It seems there is little challenge in recruiting the experts.
The GeoGirls program accepts 20 middle school girls each summer as well as four high school mentors and four teaching mentors, all free of charge. The program begins accepting applications each winter and, according to Groskopf, receives between 50 and 150 applications each year from every corner of both Oregon and Washington.
Each student applying must submit an application and also receive a recommendation from a teacher at their school.
The program was originally designed to focus heavily on education and exposure to geology and volcanology. That's a function it’s still dedicated to, but it's just one program in addition to outdoor schools and even adult programs, that serve that purpose.
Groskopf notes GeoGirls has grown beyond that.
“Another huge element of this program, which wasn’t necessarily what it was designed for, is empowerment,” Groskopf said. “That was a very surprising outcome for us.”
The program has seen some of its alumni go into geology and similar fields for their careers, she said. But the program also carries a message that is more broad than simply introducing the young women to geology — it helps build connections and seeks to inspire the girls to achieve in any field or industry.
Milner shared that perhaps the most impactful part of the camp was getting to observe the experts such as Hotovec-Ellis and many others do what they have trained to do. She reflected on a session spent identifying volcanic rocks, recalling her group getting to see the masters at work identifying a formation that stumped her and others.
“I got to watch people know what they're doing,” Milner said. “Then I know that I can do it because I watch these people who, who might have not always thought they could do it.”
Emma LaRon, from McMinville, Oregon, and a soon-to-be high school senior, served as one of the four high school mentors. She, like Milner, said geology hadn’t been her strong suit when she applied for the camp, but a college-level science teacher had recommended she apply.
She was surprised by how hands-on the program was, exploring the nature around the facility. For her, it seemed that empowerment and the human connection was a defining point of the program.
She reflected on getting to be a support system for her campers, acting as a big sister who comforts them if they miss home, makes sure they wake up on time, and checks if they have what they need each day.
“Connecting with these girls, being in a community with such intelligent and empowering women, made me feel so good about myself,” LaRon said. “Hearing everyone's life stories, especially like my teachers or the scientists, hearing what they do back at home is so interesting.”
The GeoGirls program is truly one of a kind. According to Groskopf, there are maybe one or two comparable programs on the West Coast, but tailored to their own areas. She did add that some previous contributors of the program had started a similar camp that takes students all the way to Chile.
The GeoGirls program, which is free to the attendees, was originally funded thanks to grants from the National Science Foundation secured in part by Allstadt, who was the first push to start the program.
Today, it's still funded in part by grants from a number of sources, but it's also funded in large part by income earned through operating summer programs, and thanks to donations from charitable groups in the region.
The program, now well established, has dreams of growth, whether that is including another cohort of 20 girls or maybe expanding to add a cohort for middle school boys interested in the field.
Regardless, it seems it will be back next summer to offer a unique Pacific Northwest mixture of classic summer camp and geological education.
For more information on the GeoGirls summer camp, including how to apply for next year's program, visit https://www.mshinstitute.org/geogirls.
