ROV Camp students watch the ROV as it moves around the tank.
ABBEVILLE, Miss. – Six middle school students got a glimpse into what a marine sciences career is like last week at the University of Mississippi’s Seafloor Science ROV Day Camp.
The camp, sponsored by the National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology, allowed campers to learn about technology as they built and tested remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, at the UM Field Station near Abbeville.
“The purpose of this camp is to expose the students to new worlds of biology and engineering,” said Michelle Edwards, assistant to the director of marketing and business development for NIUST. “We want to introduce them to careers that are STEM-oriented.”
Ethan Criddle, Gray Tucker and Briggs Tucker of Tupelo, Anna Grace Kilpatrick and Alex Mobley of Oxford, and Ezra Marks of Cleveland, Ohio, spent the week building a replica ROV, modeled after actual ROVs that are in use mapping the ocean floor. At the end of the week, they tested the device in a tank of water, controlling it through a computer.
NIUST marine science technician Trevor Fournier said he wants to teach students that there is much more to marine science that just the study of marine biology.
“Maybe they like to build, maybe they like to work with electronics, maybe they like to do the research.” he said. “If they find their niche in this camp, then that’s the best I can hope for.”
For more information about the camp, visit http://ssrov.org.