Rural Roots, Research Futures / Community Engagement

Since 2007, the Morgridge Summer Science Camp has invited high school students and their teachers to spend a week exploring biomedical research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Morgridge Institute for Research. More than 700 high schoolers from over 150 school districts have spent part of their summer living in a dorm, exploring Madison, and doing hands-on science alongside graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty.

The vast majority of these students attend rural Wisconsin schools. We believe students from smaller, often resource-strapped schools — where K-12 enrollments can be 300 students or lower — especially benefit from this experience.

No two sessions of camp are identical. Yet our participants consistently tell us the same thing each year: Nothing can replace the firsthand, immersive experience the week provides. Putting the lab coats and gloves on. Grabbing the pipette and focusing the microscope. Troubleshooting assays that didn’t work. Chatting with camp labmates alongside grad students and postdocs — who are not so different from them. And at the end of the day, strolling around a college campus.

The week is also a window into the tangible ways in which cutting-edge biomedical research improves human health. Perhaps most importantly, campers can see their potential as scientists contributing to that effort.