Pullman student exploring geology with like-minded friends

In early August, Pullman Lincoln Middle School student Emily Ekstrand got the opportunity to travel to Mount St. Helens and participated in GeoGirls, a volcano science program. Now, she’s back in Pullman and starting the eighth grade.

GeoGirls is organized by the United States Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory and the Mount St. Helens Institute to bring 20 middle school and four high school students from Washington and Oregon. The program is contained to the area affected by the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.

“I was really excited to go,” Ekstrand said. “It was my first overnight experience and my first time there.”

She learned about the program in her science class last year and said it was fun to meet the other participants. Ekstrand said it was her first time at Mount St. Helens and her first time participating in a science program.

It wasn’t her first exposure to geology, though — Ekstrand has gone rockhounding with her family before. Their most recent trip was to a Sapphire mine in Montana where they dug for quartz.

During her time at the program, she learned about landslides, rock identification, plate tectonics and rock formations. They also hiked some of the trails on the mountain to see how the eruption formed the ecosystem.

The program was five days and four nights, and students got to participate in research, meet other female scientists and interact with others interested in science. The program is free for attendees who fill out a short application and get a teacher recommendation.

The program aims to give participants an understanding and connection to the earth and exposure to careers in science, technology, engineering, math and other STEM related fields.

“We did a lot of stuff related to geology but the most important part was making friends,” Ekstrand said.

The next application round beings January 10 and is open to girls in seventh and eighth grades and 10th through 12th grade in Washington and Oregon. More information about GeoGirls is available at mshinstitute.org/learn/for-parents/geogirls/geogirls.html.

Nelson can be reached at knelson@dnews.com.