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High school students from across the country converged on ���ϲ����� this summer to measure the speed of light, characterize electroplated copper through an electron microscope, and contemplate how faith, philosophy and history shape scientific discovery.

The inaugural Science by the Sea camp welcomed 12 rising high school juniors and seniors, including six out-of-state students and one incoming ���ϲ����� freshman. The weeklong residential camp provided high schoolers with immersive, college-level research experiences, a rare opportunity for students prior to undergraduate study.

“From our perspective, this camp was designed specifically for students with a strong desire to explore the physical sciences: physics, chemistry and mathematics,” said Ben Carlson, assistant professor of physics. “Since ���ϲ����� is a liberal arts college, we also designed the activities to engage more broadly with the question of how specific disciplines including philosophy, history and theology shape science and are influenced by science.”

Throughout the week, campers engaged in hands-on laboratory experiments and attended interactive faculty-led discussions. Students conducted advanced physics and chemistry experiments, using state-of-the-art equipment to tackle complex projects.

For Carlson, witnessing the students' enthusiasm during these hands-on lab sessions stood out as a highlight of the week.

“Personally, I enjoyed seeing the student projects,” Carlson said. “They got to do experiments that are unheard of in high school, like measure a physical constant: the speed of light. One group got to use our electron microscope to characterize copper they electroplated during a chemistry lab.”

Beyond laboratory work, faculty members introduced interdisciplinary perspectives to challenge how students view the scientific enterprise. David Vander Laan, professor of philosophy, led a session examining foundational questions in the philosophy of science. “My role in Science by the Sea was to get students thinking about the limits of science,” Vander Laan said. “Specifically, the students worked on an activity that raised the questions whether science is the only source of knowledge and whether science is objective.”

He noted how quickly the young scholars embraced complex philosophical inquiry. “Two things stuck with me about our session,” Vander Laan said. “One was the eagerness with which the students engaged the questions in the activity. They dove right in, and they came up with good, thoughtful answers. The second thing was how well the themes of our discussion dovetailed with the rest of the morning’s talks, especially Jennifer Gee’s introduction to the physics of planetary motion.”

Sara Morrisset, assistant professor of history, expanded the camp’s scope by guiding students through historical and archaeological perspectives. “I taught about the intersection of archaeology and other subjects the campers would learn about, such as Biblical archaeology, ancient technological discoveries, and archaeoastronomy — the study of how people in the past tracked, viewed and built architecture in relation to the stars.”

Morrisset added that students showed vibrant curiosity during her session. “They seemed to be especially interested in the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient computing device found in a shipwreck in the Mediterranean,” Morrisset said.

The week also integrated spiritual reflection alongside academic discovery. Daniel Gee, assistant professor of music and director of choral activities, led an evening worship service at the ���ϲ����� Observatory under the stars.

Carlson noted that the camp created an environment where passionate young scholars thrived together. “Science by the Sea is the kind of experience where you can expect everyone there to be deeply excited by the topic — and that showed,” he said, “both in how students engaged with the material, each other, and their genuine enthusiasm to engage in hard topics every day during summer break.”

Participants reported that the week solidified their academic ambitions and deepened their affinity for ���ϲ�����’s Christian liberal arts community. Campers noted that the program confirmed their plans to pursue college majors in physics, chemistry and mathematics.

Following the success of the inaugural session, ���ϲ����� faculty plan to host the camp again next summer.