The Windy Ridge Foundation Astro Camp is scheduled June 16-22 on the UW campus.
Twenty-four students, who will be entering seventh or eighth grade this fall, will
be selected from Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska and South Dakota. Here, Danny Dale, the
Harry C. Vaughan Professor of Astronomy in the UW Department of Physics and Astronomy,
works with a camper on proper use of the telescope on the roof of the Physical Sciences
Building during the 2023 Astro Camp. (Max Gilbraith Photo)
Select middle school students from four states will have an opportunity this summer
to explore traveling to and colonizing planets during the Windy Ridge Foundation Astro
Camp June 16-22 on the University of Wyoming campus.
Campers, who will be entering seventh or eighth grade this fall, will be chosen based
on demonstrated interest and academic potential in math, science, engineering and
space. As part of the application process, students must submit written essays on
why they want to attend the science camp.
Twenty-four students from all backgrounds and economic statuses will be selected from
Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska and South Dakota. Participants will be selected with a
goal of having an equal number of male and female campers.
The camp is free to selected participants. On-campus housing and dining will be provided
for attending students.
The application deadline is Sunday, April 30, but applications submitted by Monday,
May 6, will be considered, pending camp capacity. To apply, go here.
“So far, it (programming) will be the same,” says Danny Dale, the Harry C. Vaughan
Professor of Astronomy in the UW Department of Physics and Astronomy. “The teachers
and I always end up modifying a bit each year, but that will be hashed out during
our prep/training the week before camp.”
The camp includes three in-service Wyoming science teachers and five UW undergraduate
students who will serve as camp counselors. Once again, campers will take field trips
to the local mountain ranges.
“Hike No. 1 will be in the Vedauwoo area. Our goal is to have a simulated hike on
an 'alien landscape,' and their challenge is to find signs of life, food and shelter.
They also will collect water from a beaver pond for a later lesson on purifying water,”
Dale explains.
Hike No. 2 will take place in the Snowy Range.
“The goal is to exercise their new skills in identifying different types of flora
that we find along the way: trees, bushes, flowers and plants, in general,” Dale says.
“We also do a bit of geology during the hike.”
Dale says he wants camp attendees to take away “an excitement and understanding for
STEM, and to meet others of the same age who are likewise excited about STEM.”
In 2020, the Windy Ridge Foundation made a $250,000 gift to support the Windy Ridge
Foundation Astro Camp, which aims to educate the next generation of scientists and
engineers while introducing the K-12 community to science programs offered through
UW. The gift provided enough funding for five years of the camp, Dale says. This year’s
camp marks the fourth year of funding by Windy Ridge.
