Karla Morrissey, a senior at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, has been chosen to attend the National Youth Science Camp this summer.
The camp is an annual summer forum where two delegates from each state exchange ideas with leading scientists and other professionals from the academic, government and corporate worlds. The camp features lectures and hands-on research projects that academically challenge young scientists the summer after they graduate high school, according to the camp’s website.
The camp, held near the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, W.Va., is sponsored by the National Youth Science Foundation and the state of West Virginia. It was created in 1963 as part of the state’s Centennial Celebration. This year’s camp will be held from June 26 to July 20.
Morrisey of Beebe thought she had missed out on the opportunity to attend the camp. She said she was surfing the Internet when she found the website for the National Youth Science Camp.
Seeing the application deadline was only a couple of days away, she thought she wouldn’t have enough time to complete the application.
The next day, ASMSA’s seniors received an email alerting them about an opportunity to apply for the camp. The application deadline had been extended for a week. She said she was excited to know that she would then have the opportunity to apply.
When Morrissey found out she had been chosen as one of the state’s two participants, she said she felt “really excited and very honored to be chosen to go.”
Morrissey is looking forward to the lectures that will be conducted by some of the leading scientists in the nation. One of the scheduled lecturers is Dr. Julie Robinson, the chief scientist of the International Space Station Program at NASA. She is an alumna of the camp, attending as a delegate from Idaho in 1985.
Morrissey said she is also preparing to lead a research seminar on a topic in which she is interested. She would like to do a seminar on solar energy.
“I love anything about renewable energy,” Morrissey said. “I want to focus on the research that is going on right now, what are the major problems and possible solutions.”
Morrissey also will have the opportunity to participate the camp’s outdoor adventure program. The program may include activities such as backpacking, rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking or field experiments.
According to the camp’s website, camp participants also will make a three-day trip to Washington, D.C., to visit with the senior member of West Virginia’s U.S. Senate delegation and other U.S. senators. The luncheon with the senators also will feature a keynote speaker from the field of science.
Morrissey said she plans to attend the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in the fall and major in chemical engineering.
For more information on the National Youth Science Camp, visit www.nysc.org. For more information on the National Youth Science Foundation, visit www.nysf.com.
Photo courtesy of the National Youth Science Foundation