Program Overview
Headwaters 2026 Girls Science Camp returns this year! We will have a week of GIRLS ONLY science and camping at the Truckee Donner Land Trust’s Webber Lake Campground.
In addition, girls can sign up for the Headwaters’ Summer Research Experience, for a full summer of science.
Foundations of the program:
1. Scientific Research
Students work with an all female cohort of peers at Webber Lake and with professional female scientist mentors to create questions around their environmental topics of interest and develop these questions into a research project.
2. Mentorship
The students will be mentored by female scientists for guidance through their project. These career-scientists can help with recommendations for how to turn an idea into an executable project.
3. Female Empowerment
A female-specific cohort provides support for participants to explore the science field in ways that are unique.
4. Professional caliber scientific exploration
Participants are given the chance to practice science just like a professional would, analyzing data and finally creating a research talk. If they would like to create a paper they should also join our Summer Research Experience and at the end, they submit their paper for publication. They can get all of their data collected for the summer-long program during this week at Webber Lake.
2026 Program Details
Dates: July 5th – July 8th
Online Optional Meetings to extend the project: July 14th & 16th
Camping: Participants will camp at our Webber Lake study site. Parents will drop off campers on Sunday, July 5th after dinner and pick up on Wednesday, July 8th by noon. Parents are welcome to join the Land Trust on a docent hike the morning of pickup.
Location: The campground is located at Webber Lake in Truckee, California at the Truckee Donner Land Trust campground.
Ages: For girls entering 6th-12th grade
Cost: $600
Financial Assistance is available.
General Camp Outline
Students will create:
- an original research project complete with research methods and data collection
- a polished research presentation
- the opportunity to join the Summer Research Program to publish their paper
Schedule Subject to Change:
Schedule: participants will camp at Webber Lake to do data collection from July 6-9.
Schedule Subject to Change:
July 5: Drop-off between 6-7 pm (please eat dinner first), Set up tents, 7:30 pm parents leave, welcome campfire
July 6: Learn environmental science and ecology data collection methods from our staff scientists and mentors, scientific literacy, scientific question asking and methods development
July 7: data collection, data analysis and presentation building
July 8: finish presentation building, presentation for parents and 12 pm pickup, possible Truckee Donner Land Trust Docent Hike this morning
July 14th (optional): 6 pm virtual data analysis and presentation-building session
July 16th (optional): 6 pm live recorded digital presentations
For a full summer option, you can also signup for the Research Experience and use this program as a way to collect your data for that project.
Students will gather virtually following the program to present their research to friends and family via live stream on July 17th.
Contact:
Please contact Baylee Goodwin: baylee@headwatersscienceinstitute.org with any questions.
Cancellations:
Cancelations are subject to a $100 fee and are only allowed until June 1st. If there is someone else to fill the spot we will accept trades.
Camp Sponsors
Staffing and Emergency Policies:
Headwaters Science Institute is committed to maintaining the highest safety and security standards for our programs. When your children are in our care, you can trust that they are safe.
- All employees and contractors are background checked before they start working with us. We use a national-level background check program called National Crime Search (nationalcrimesearch.com) that searches all states and county records for any criminal records, sex & violent offenders, and includes a terrorist search.
- Our staff members are all first-aid and CPR certified. Some are Wilderness First Responder certified as well.
- We have a safety plan for every field site we use and know where the nearest fire station is located. We are never more than a few minutes walk to the nearest road.
- In the unlikely event of an emergency, we always work in areas that are easily served by 911. Our field site on Donner Summit is less than 2 miles from the nearest fire station with full-time EMT services and the hospital is a short 10-minute ride away.
- Wildfire and Smoke/Air Quality Policy: In the event of smoky conditions, Headwaters will evaluate air quality each morning by 7:00 AM and determine whether programs can safely proceed, need to be modified, or must be canceled. Headwaters will not cancel an entire week of camp or an entire program due to smoke unless there is an evacuation order or conditions make safe operation impossible. We follow air quality guidance from public health agencies:
- AQI above 200: Camp/program activities will be modified. All staff and campers must wear masks while outdoors.
- AQI above 300: Camp will be canceled for the day unless Headwaters has access to an appropriate indoor space where activities can be safely modified and held.
- Our full Cancellation, Withdrawal, and Smoke/Air Quality Police can be found here.
