11 July, 2010
When Holli Gay came to MSU last week, the high school junior from Union City High School in Union City, Mich., was unsure of her career path.
But after participating in the first Michigan 4-H Discovery Camp, Gay said she was inspired by the camp’s visit to an energy wind farm and now dreams of someday designing and engineering wind turbines.
“I’ve been interested in alternative energy and wanting to do something with the environment, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to see what this is about,” she said.
Gay was one of nine students who attended the camp, which offered Michigan students ages 15-19 opportunities to learn about bioenergy and green solutions.
At the camp, students visited MSU faculty member’s labs and took interactive field trips across the state while experiencing dorm living in Shaw Hall.
“Our challenge — from a 4-H perspective — is to prepare youth for the future,” said Jacob DeDecker, a program leader for Michigan 4-H Youth Development who organized the camp.
“Having this opportunity for them to come explore new ideas, research and technologies in bioenergy is foremost to prepare them.”
The campers had a variety of interests — from the agricultural side of biofuels to engineering — and DeDecker said the camp tried to explore and address as many forms of alternative energy as possible.
“These youths are going to be our leaders and hopefully we can prepare them by giving them a foundation of this education on all sides, fields and academia and enhance their interest in it,” DeDecker said. “So they can become the next scientists and field leaders to take the next steps in Michigan to produce green solutions.”
After DeDecker received a grant from MSU Extension for the camp, he contacted Dennis Pennington, a bioenergy educator for MSU’s Kellogg Biological Station, who said he used his background and contacts to set up the field trips to places including Zeeland Farm Services, Inc., in Zeeland, Mich., which converts soybeans to biodiesel, and Carbon Green BioEnergy in Lake Odessa, Mich., which produces ethanol from corn.
“They’re very positive and enthusiastic about bioenergy and renewable energy,” Pennington said. “What we hoped to accomplish out of here was to expose them to some possible career pathways and encourage them to maybe go into a bioenergy (or) renewable energy career and hopefully at MSU.”
Courtland Bowles, a high school senior from Blissfield, Mich., participated in the camp and said he wants to attend MSU, but is undecided about whether he should pursue the veterinary or biosystems engineering field.
“It’s been split for a long time, but finally, this is making a bigger dent in the (biosystems engineering) side,” Bowles said.
Bowles plans to come to the camp next year and publicize it among his 4-H chapter in Blissfield when he returns home.
“I do know a lot of kids who are interested in the bioenergy field, but it’s just the information isn’t out there,” he said.
The camp was limited to a small group of students this year, but DeDecker said he would like to see the number of participants grow and potentially open it to non-Michigan residents.
“In the future, we hope to continue to grow and invite youth from all over the country to come to MSU and learn about bioenergy,” he said.
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