Young Nebraska Scientists
YOUNG NEBRASKA SCIENTISTS
Young Nebraska Scientists is a educational program sponsored by EPSCoR, an NSF program, that brings Nebraska high school students exciting scientific and mathematical adventures during their summers. YNS Summer Camps provide participants with the opportunity to learn science through doing science at Nebraska institutions of higher education alongside science experts and highly qualified teachers. Nebraska middle school and high school students experience STEM activities in an intense and fun environment and receive personal attention and discovery based learning.
The YNS camp at CPBS was first offered in the summer of 2013 and has been offered every year since. Enrollments have varied between 5 and 12 students each year. The camp is fee based and scholarships are awarded on a financial needs basis. The goals for this camp is to provide high school students an opportunity to explore the biodiversity of a high plains ecosystem, learn field biology techniques, and to work closely with some of UNL’s best researchers and teachers who volunteer their time to participate in the program. Our recruiting efforts have focused on high school students from Western Nebraska, a geographic area that typically lacks science enrichment programs because they are primarily offered by institutions located in the Lincoln-Omaha metropolitan area. We have also used this camp to recruit students to enroll in life sciences majors at UNL. Several alumni of this program have enrolled at UNL over the past two years.
Please click the beaker for the Young Nebraska Scientists' webpage.
The following pictures and text are taken from the poster Young Nebraska Scientists Camp at UNL Cedar Point Biological Station created by Dr. William Glider and Benjamin Reed for the 2016 SciComm.
The YNS camp at CPBS was first offered in the summer of 2013 and has been offered every year since. Enrollments have varied between 5 and 12 students each year. The camp is fee based and scholarships are awarded on a financial needs basis. The goals for this camp is to provide high school students an opportunity to explore the biodiversity of a high plains ecosystem, learn field biology techniques, and to work closely with some of UNL’s best researchers and teachers who volunteer their time to participate in the program. Our recruiting efforts have focused on high school students from Western Nebraska, a geographic area that typically lacks science enrichment programs because they are primarily offered by institutions located in the Lincoln-Omaha metropolitan area. We have also used this camp to recruit students to enroll in life sciences majors at UNL. Several alumni of this program have enrolled at UNL over the past two years.
Please click the beaker for the Young Nebraska Scientists' webpage.
The following pictures and text are taken from the poster Young Nebraska Scientists Camp at UNL Cedar Point Biological Station created by Dr. William Glider and Benjamin Reed for the 2016 SciComm.
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Insects are an integral, but often underappreciated, taxonomic group that provide incredible learning opportunities for students. Students experience Western Nebraska’s immense insect diversity and abundance through field insect collection projects and experiments. Students learn about insect-insect interactions, both competitive and predatory through Sentinel Prey and carnivorous caterpillar exercises. Finally, students get to engage in real-world data collection by participating in Citizen Science and presenting their findings to their peers. Photo compilation and text by Dr. William Glider and Benjamin Reed -
A large prairie dog colony and burrowing owl community afford students the fascinating opportunity to learn about social behavior and cross-species interactions. Students also learn about keystone species and how they shape the ecology of their surrounding habitat. Behaviors of the prairie dogs are assayed using ethograms and are then their data is collated so students can learn about time-energy budgets. Photo compilation and text by Dr. William Glider and Benjamin Reed -
Students assist the fish biologist in collecting real time data during a fish census in Lake Ogallala. Students learn how the population dynamics of the fish species have changed over time and what effect the introduction of new species has had on the ecology of the lake. Photo compilation and text by Dr. William Glider and Benjamin Reed -
Fish collected from the census are dissected and their organs necropsied for the presence of parasites. Photo compilation and text by Dr. William Glider and Benjamin Reed -
This 3 mile hike at Cedar Point includes observations of 5 major rock layers and 4 distinctive time gaps spanning over 30 million years of geologic history. Specific features of interest include, volcanic ash lenses, fossil soil horizons, a wide variety of fluvial and palustrine sedimentary features, and the occasional fossil, from small seeds and petrified wood to the rare megafauna part. Photo compilation and text by Dr. William Glider and Benjamin Reed -
Ornate box turtles provide a unique opportunity for students to learn about behavior, ectothermy, microhabitat use, and radio telemetry. Students create thermally heterogeneous habitats within kiddie pools and assay turtle microhabitat selection, temperatures, and behavior. Thermal images (using a forward-looking infrared camera) are taken to examine the thermal environments the students created. Students also get to learn how to do radio telemetry and track turtles in the field. Photo compilation and text by Dr. William Glider and Benjamin Reed -
Students are left with lasting experiences. Photo compilation by Dr. William Glider and Benjamin Reed -
In 2015 students were provided a mini three question pre and post-camp survey to detect potential changes in their attitude towards science. Below we summarize the student’s responses to these questions. Photo and text by Dr. William Glider and Benjamin Reed