![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/USF-Oceanography-Camp-3-300x185.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLeeila Ochoki-Bargman\u2019s dad called her a fish when she was younger.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just the ocean so much,\u201d she said. \u201cI just love how we barely know anything about it, and how there\u2019s so much diversity in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
This summer, Ochoki-Bargman is preparing to start ninth grade at Richard O. Jacobson Technical High School in Seminole. She wants to be a marine biologist, and at the Oceanography Camp Especially for Girls (OCG), she\u2019s diving into the ins and outs of research on the water.<\/p>\n
For 35 years, the University of South Florida College of Marine Science has hosted OCG, a three-week crash course in all things marine science.<\/p>\n
Teresa Greely is a USF marine science educator and the camp\u2019s director. She said the camp aims to dismantle barriers young women still face in STEM \u2014 science, technology, engineering and math \u2014 education. For starters, it\u2019s tuition-free.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe never wanted anything to keep a young lady from being a part of the program,\u201d Greely explained. \u201cEveryone can be a scientist. We need to make sure the door\u2019s open to say, \u2018Let\u2019s go be a scientist.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Each summer, 30 Pinellas County eighth-grade graduates get to study water samples, do toxicology labs and even run their own mock commercial fishing companies.<\/p>\n
The first week ends with a voyage aboard the R\/V ANGARI, a 65-foot research vessel outfitted with lab workspaces, probes and instruments that oceanographers use day-to-day.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
OCG staff member Michael Sipes oversees a sediment sampling operation.<\/p>\n
The girls had spent the days prior to the cruise learning at the Clam Bayou Marine Education Center, picking up skills and knowledge before an expedition that let them put their hypotheses to the test.<\/p>\n
Throughout the day, the girls cycled through three stations, analyzing dissolved oxygen, pH levels, cloud cover and surface depth from the USF marina in St. Petersburg to Egmont Key. Marine life \u2014 plankton, sea dollars, and even a family of dolphins \u2014 also had starring roles on their trip.<\/p>\n
Thirteen-year-old Audrey, who is homeschooled, is an aquatic fanatic. When her family first moved from Washington, D.C. to Florida, they\u2019d go out on a boat every week. The last couple of hurricane seasons derailed the tradition, but she hasn\u2019t lost her budding passion for oceanography.<\/p>\n
\u201cI might go to the Florida Aquarium and then be a veterinarian or a trainer for the puffins they have there,\u201d she predicted.<\/p>\n
Greely said that OCG teaches campers to value and appreciate the ocean, even if they don\u2019t go into marine science.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ocean is so much bigger than just the science,\u201d Greely said. \u201cIt\u2019s what connects us globally.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added that Florida business colleges are now offering concentrations in the \u201cblue economy,\u201d which includes topics like marine renewable energy, coastal tourism and sustainable fishing practices.<\/p>\n
Marine science itself is a multi-disciplinary field, combining physics, biology, geology and chemistry. OCG\u2019s curriculum incorporates all of this \u2014 there\u2019s also a career day where campers find out where a love of the water can take them.<\/p>\n
OCG\u2019s instructors are female graduate students from the USF College of Marine Science, which recently suffered a devastating fire that destroyed critical research.<\/p>\n
Camp staff expressed gratitude that, despite the tragedy, this year\u2019s OCG could continue uninterrupted.<\/p>\n
The ANGARI\u2019s crew is also a majority-women affair. The boat belongs to the ANGARI Foundation, a West Palm Beach-based nonprofit that supports marine research and education. ANGARI is the brainchild of sisters Angela and Kari Rosenberg.<\/p>\n
The partnership between OCG and ANGARI began in 2017, with the camp serving as one of the R\/V ANGARI\u2019s first expeditions.<\/p>\n
Angela, also the boat\u2019s captain, said the camp aligns with her organization\u2019s commitment to public-facing research.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was coming up in science, people weren\u2019t as excited to share what they were doing in research outside of the industry,\u201d Rosenberg reflected. \u201cNow, people care a lot more about broader impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Teresa Greely tells campers what to expect during a plankton trawl.<\/p>\n
When OCG launched, it was one of few similar offerings for young women. In 2019, the U.S. Department of State included OCG in their \u201cHidden No More: Empowering Women Leaders in STEM\u201d exchange program.<\/p>\n
Greely said the idea for the Oceanography Camp \u2014 Especially for Girls \u2014 came from two Tampa Bay area teachers, who\u2019d noticed that fewer girls went on to advanced science classes in high school.<\/p>\n
Eli Gilchrist was a camper in 2020, before becoming a peer counselor during high school. They joked they didn\u2019t initially believe marine science as male-dominated since they\u2019d been surrounded by USF\u2019s female researchers as a teenager.<\/p>\n
Gilchrist, now a marine science major at Eckerd College, said the program is even more essential for pre-teen girls than it was five years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow there\u2019s even more young girls on social media, and there\u2019s even more people getting on social media, critiquing young girls,\u201d Gilchrist said.<\/p>\n
Gilchrist says the camp emphasizes self-love, confidence and friendship as much as science education.<\/p>\n
Every time a camper says something negative about themselves or someone else, they have to give two compliments back. Also, the girls aren\u2019t allowed to be on their phones.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat rewired my brain when I was 14,\u201d Gilchrist said.<\/p>\n
Phoebe Martel is a reporter for WUSF, the bay area\u2019s NPR affiliate.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/USF-Oceanography-Camp-4-300x182.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
OCG camper Audrey, 13, studies the pH and salinity of samples obtained by her peers.<\/p>\n
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