$1.3M Hartwell Gift Funds Science Camp at Duke

The Duke Center for Science Education has received a $1.3 million gift from The Hartwell Foundation to establish a residential summer science camp for teens in grades 8, 9, and 10. The Camp, which represents a collaboration between the Duke Center for Science Education and Duke Medicine, will seek to make a life-changing difference early in the lives of young campers by sparking a desire to follow an academic pathway that leads to lifelong involvement in science.

"We want to give teens a ‘wow' experience that we hope makes them say ‘this is for me!'" said Christine Adamczyk, executive director of the Duke Center for Science Education, who will direct the program. "This is not an academic camp. It will be fun, and the fun will be rooted in science."

The goal is to help address the growing national concern that fewer high school graduates are interested in science and technology careers. The gift will be paid over three years, with the first 2-week camp session to begin in 2011.

"It will help young teens apply their natural curiosity to solving medical mysteries," said Rochelle Schwartz-Bloom, director of the center and a professor of pharmacology, who will create the camp with Adamczyk. "We are especially excited about this science camp because our Duke undergraduate/graduate students and post-doctoral fellows will mentor the teens, providing role models for possible careers in science."

"This innovative program is intended to provide a summer experience that is fun and that gets kids who are not yet hooked to become engaged in science," says Fred Dombrose, president of The Hartwell Foundation. "We feel that the Duke Center for Science Education is uniquely positioned to make a difference in the lives of these children."

The selection criteria are still being defined, Adamczyk said, "but we know we want kids who are bright, curious, and capable." She expects an online application form will be available at the center's website (http://www.scied.duke.edu/) by January 2011. During the camp, students will live in dorms on Duke's West campus.

The Duke Center for Science Education, founded in 2007, is dedicated to fostering collaboration among Duke faculty, students and staff interested in educating students from kindergarten to graduate school. The center promotes interdisciplinary science education research, service learning, civic engagement, and community outreach in science.

The primary mission of The Hartwell Foundation, located in Memphis, Tenn., is to inspire innovation and achievement by granting awards for cutting-edge biomedical applied research that has the potential to benefit children of the United States. The gift to the Duke Center for Science Education is The Hartwell Foundation's first initiative in supporting a science education program.

For more information about the Duke Center for Science Education, contact Adamczyk at Christine.Adamczyk@duke.edu or scied@duke.edu

For information about The Hartwell Foundation, visit www.thehartwellfoundation.org