9450558 Walker The Marine and Aquatic Mini-Camp For Female Secondary Students is a series of several-day, field-based, inquiry-focused, hands-on educational experiences designed to modify an existing, successful program at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory to meet the specific needs of a population of secondary, at-risk-for-science female students. The Principal Investigators believe that the proposed effort will contribute to a realistic change in the academic and professional ambitions of participating students, thus enhancing their scientific literacy and career aspirations. A more specific goal is for the participants to continue their formal science education through enrollment or re-enrollment in high school science courses. The residential programs will be composed of four major conceptual sections: oceanography and hydrologic processes; marine and aquatic biology-fauna; marine and aquatic biology-flora; and, beach and barrier islands. The effort will build upon an established relationship with local schools to ensure selection of students who could most benefit, as well who could be tracked over time. Selected students from the same school would attend at the same time. Schools are in northwest Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. ***
