GeoGirls working in Willow Creek on the Pumice Plain of Mount St. Helens in summer 2019. Photo by Carri LeRoy (Mavic2Pro by permit at MSHNVM).
One of the most exciting outreach activities done at MSH is a geology and nature camp for middle school girls that focuses on engaging the youth in the amazing world of science. They are called the “GeoGirls” and are organized by the Mount St. Helens Institute! Watch this short video:
“GeoGirls” are middle school girls from all over the country who spend a week doing research with scientists at Mount St. Helens. Photo by Carri LeRoy
This unique opportunity allows middle school girls to join in on fieldwork on the Pumice Plain and learn about the history of the mountain. Encouraging and supporting the youth developing skills, knowledge, and memories they can take with them for a lifetime!
We volunteered to teach 25 middle school ”GeoGirls” how to measure stream velocity and sinuosity both summers 2018 and 2019. Photo by Carri LeRoy
GeoGirls is a collaborative effort that runs during the summer where those involved get to learn from REAL SCIENTISTS! Our lab volunteered to teach the 2018 and 2019 GeoGirls to measure things like stream sinuosity and velocity of MSH watersheds!
Iris helping to tag Sitka willows as male or female (pink!) along Clear Creek at Mount St. Helens in summer 2019. Photo by Carri LeRoy
“It’s unconventional, but I view ecological studies as a radical form of generous listening to the world around us. My current listening project (research) investigates the temporal dynamics of multitrophic interactions in aquatic-terrestrial ecosystems.”
“I am currently studying interactions between Salixsitchensis phenology, phytochemistry and stream biota at MSH. Advancing our understanding in this research area allows for better predictions of climate -driven ecological mismatch in land-water ecosystems.”
Iris helped coordinate science outreach for the Mount St. Helens Institute’s GeoGirls program in the summer of 2019. Here she is leading a pack of 25 middle school girls. Photo by Carri LeRoy
“Research at MSH with Dr. LeRoy has allowed me to:
Participate in NSF- funded research
Conduct independent stream ecology research
Co-author a peer-reviewed publication
Form strong relationships with peers and mentors
And so much more!”
“I am passionate about supporting other #WomenInSTEM and connecting youth with nature. I have such a supportive group in the L3 lab and I want to give others that same feeling of comfort with science and the natural world.”
Iris and fellow undergraduate Victoria Cowan enjoying some shade on the blistering Pumice Plain of Mount St. Helens in the summer of 2019. Photo by Carri LeRoy
“I am so excited to have two manuscripts in progress as an undergraduate. The sky is the limit for research opportunities at Evergreen. I am looking forward to publishing our research and sharing our work with the broader freshwater ecology community.”
“Research is an art form of listening, sometimes it is with a hyporheic well, an extraction, a pH meter, a mass spectra or simply sitting by the stream. Evergreen is my academic home, it understands my way of listening and my desire not to push my way into an answer but to find patterns and relationships in a landscape of uncertainty and null hypotheses.”
Iris and fellow field assistants taking a much needed rest in the shade of willows and alders at Mount St Helens, summer 2019. Photo by Carri LeRoy
“Instead of starting with the question- what do I want to discover? I like to enter a new study system with “what wants to be discovered?” I come from a background in permaculture, where we are taught to watch the land for quite some time before jumping in and making changes. Where does the shade hit in November? What family of plants sprout in February? Where does rain collect in December? That’s the kind of science I like to do- meaningful, thoughtful and full of listening.”
