Camp ELSO Gives BIPOC Students A Month of Science Learning in Nature

As the summer is winding down, a new cohort of BIPOC students will return to the classroom with a greater understanding of the natural world around them — and of their own individual value to it.

Camp ELSO — Experience Life Science Outdoors — started when two college students found each other in a biology class where only three Black individuals were in attendance.

“I found one other girl that I was comfortable studying with, and her name was Sprinavasa Brown,” ELSO cofounder Kelliane Richardson said.

“We created ELSO so that there would not only be three Black students in a biology class in college.”

Kelliane RichardsonNoting that Black students are under-represented in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math — or “STEM” — the two set out to apply their own scientific backgrounds to create an inclusive camp focused on “STEAMED” education: science, technology, engineering, art, math, environmental studies and design, an approach that integrates creative disciplines to aid in problem-solving.

From the beginning, the two wanted to establish more holistic programming. 

“We launched ELSO with the simple mission to get more Black and Brown kids to see themselves represented in science and our hope is that by doing this, Black and Brown children will feel inspired, they’ll have their identity affirmed and they will be more curious about science and about learning science, because it’s more relevant to them and it’s been presented by somebody who’s approachable and who connects with them on more of a personal level,” Brown said.

Multifaceted Programming

Sprinavasa BrownSince 2015, ELSO has directly served more than 760 youth with curricula designed using what they call a “JEDI mindset”: a lens of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. The program’s successes have not gone unnoticed: Earlier this year, ELSO Inc. was one of eight recipients of a Community Watershed Stewardship Program grant from the city of Portland.

In the summer, K-8 students can attend the four-week Wayfinders Summer Camp, with four different units that are each adjusted to the needs of four different age groups. The Dive In! unit familiarizes students with marine biology, partnering with Metro, the Oregon Zoo and I’m Hooked Inc. The Flow Ridin’ unit partners with ELSO’s Studio Justice program, Bacharach Construction and Lower Columbia Estuary to introduce students to the rivers and other waterways that shape their home city. With Into the Forest, partner organizations Metro, Friends of Tryon Creek and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service support learning about everything from forest ecology to wildlife habitats and even urban ecosystems. Meanwhile, partner organizations Adidas, Nike, Intel, Project LEDO, the National Society of Black Engineers and the Bonneville Dam support the Wired Up! unit, which provides not only a crash-course in electrical and robotic engineering, but also shows how such disciplines can be applied outdoors and on a large scale with environmental engineering.

The monthlong program offers sliding scale fees ranging from $150 to $390.

That program wrapped up earlier this month, but ELSO programming continues throughout the year, with a four-day spring break camp. This year’s theme was Life Skillz, an energized and more culturally inclusive update to classic home ec themes: sewing, cooking, baking and home design.

For teens, ELSO offers paid afterschool programs through its Studio Justice arm. Last spring, BIPOC youth between the ages of 14 and 20 met weekly on Zoom for two months to learn and discuss “Designing Climate Justice.” The cohort completed the program by contributing their own redesigns of Prescott Elementary School, with a focus on integrating the school into nature and equipping it to provide climate education. In recognition of their time and effort — and to demonstrate the value of their work — students who completed the program were provided with a $250 stipend.

Fostering Interest

Both Brown and Richardson cite George Washington Carver as a spiritual influence for the camp’s multifaceted mission.

“In his time, there was a need for some innovation to change the economy for his neighborhood, for his community,” Richardson, a behavior pharmacologist, said. “Everyone was faced with a problem of, what are we going to do if we can’t grow cotton? What are we going to do if the people who work the cotton are no longer doing that work? What are we going to do to turn over the soil, to keep it rich off-season? And George Washington Carver, in one week, he holed himself up in his lab and by the time he came out, there was a new market for something that was in abundance: peanuts. He made it so that not only was he enriching the soil, but he created a whole new product that could be sold, that created more money flow, that created more interest, that created more jobs — more palatable jobs — in his community. In my mind, that’s the type of work I want to do with ELSO.

"I want to look around in my community and think about, what can I do and how can I make things better? How can I make more opportunities?”

It is a camp designed to create a sense of belonging for marginalized children, teens and young adults — a safe space to foster innovation.

“We wanted to create an environment that kids could start to learn science early, and to start to debunk that notion that Black and Brown children aren’t scientists,” Brown said.

But ELSO isn’t just about training future researchers and engineers.

“You don’t have to be the best, the only or the first to enjoy science,” Richardson said. “If you’re creative and you’re enthusiastic, keep raising your hand in the classroom.”

For more information, visit https://www.elsoincpdx.org.