PhD student holds successful CL marine camp

BY Ariana Shah

The children who attended Canyon Laker Darien Satterfield’s free virtual 10-week marine biology “summer camp” weren’t the only ones who benefited from the program. Darien, who is pursuing her doctorate in Marine Biology at UC Davis, gained what she said was great experience teaching remotely.

Darien Satterfield, a Canyon Lake PhD student, leads her Marine Biology Summer Camp group on a kayak excursion on Canyon Lake recently to celebrate the end of the 10-week program. Photo by Jeremy Satterfield.

Darien intertwined virtual learning with hands-on activities throughout the 10-week camp. After dropping off activity packets for the participants, she had them present their art projects and held a kayak trip around Canyon Lake for their last hoorah.

‘’The camp was really great,” Darien said. “Parents said that their kids really enjoyed it and learned a lot.”

The kayak trip was a big success, she said. Dads joined their children for the day on the waters of Canyon Lake and they “had a blast” as they were treated to birds they encountered.

“We went into the water from the launch ramp right next to the fire station on Vacation Drive,” Darien said. “It’s the most natural undeveloped part of the lake. We saw a few egrets and we had a hawk swoop right over us. We also saw a few cormorants and many songbirds.”

After finding a bucket on the shoreline, the group decided to fill it with trash they found during the excursion.

Darien Satterfield and her Marine Biology Summer Camp group prepare prior to engaging in their kayak excursion on Canyon Lake. Participants paddled around the lake and enjoyed a hands-on approach to what they had learned during their 10-week virtual camp. Photo by Jeremy Satterfield.

The participants also were able to collect water samples and looked for microbes and micro-invertebrates in the water using foldoscopes that were donated by UC Davis Professor Graham Coop.

‘’I was actually really surprised at how engaged the kids were over Zoom,” Darien said. “It worked out really well that the classes weren’t consecutive so that the kids could jump in or miss a week and still learn so much. The activity kits were a huge success. It was great that even during a virtual camp, the kids could still practice hands-on science. The field trip, of course, was a blast!’’

Darien is into her second year as a PhD student and she plans to finish her summer research by collecting data for her thesis. She will then prepare to teach undergraduate level biology during the next quarter.

‘’I’m really lucky to be able to stay in Canyon Lake with my family until campus opens back up,” she said. “The kids and the camp gave me a great opportunity to practice teaching over Zoom.”

Darien enjoyed her experience with the children during the summer camp and urged parents to continue to encourage their children to pursue interests in science.

“Parents don’t have to have a love for science to do this,” she said. “I first became interested in science by sitting down with my step dad and watching Star Trek. He told me I could study space if I want to, and I quickly discovered that oceans are like a whole different world, but are right here on earth where I could do hands-on research.”