The University of Miami’s Exploring Marine Science Day for 6th-7th grade girls is held annually at the Rosenstiel School campus. Female faculty, staff, and students host middle school girls for a Saturday filled with hands-on marine science demonstrations and experiments. The girls get a taste for life as a scientists, interact with women at various career stages, and explore geology, physical oceanography, chemistry, biology, and conservation.
CARTHE partners with UM to plan and execute this wonderful day. CARTHE outreach manager Laura Bracken solicits, selects, and organizes the presenters. CARTHE scientists Josefina Olascoaga and Annalisa Griffa joined Laura on the day of the event to introduce the girls to the importance of understanding ocean currents, and conducted a “Weather in a Tank” demo, making currents with food coloring and paper “debris.”
While the presentations and activities are the highlight of the day, some of the best questions and discussions occur during lunch when the girls and scientists casually eat together. Informal mentoring and sharing ideas can often spark an interest in a topic/subject. We wish the best of luck to the participants and hope to see them again in the future.