We're always happy to see girls encouraged to get their hands on some science—literally. So we loved discovering the Girls in Ocean Science Conference. As part of its ongoing effort to get girls excited about ocean science and involved with hands-on reserach, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography welcomed more than 100 middle school girls to an ocean science conference. Women scientists from UCLA, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and Algalita Marine Research and Education and more teach workshops and discuss careers in areas like oceanography, marine ecology, biochemistry and deep sea science. Learn more about the workshop, and the Institute's ongoing effort, by reading the full article.

ocregister.com - DANA POINT – Serena Chuc couldn’t get enough of looking at the bright green and blue species of coral on the ocean floor.

Thanks to special software from a researcher at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, the 13-year-old Capistrano Beach girl could see the different types of coral and find out why they look the way they do. She also learned about key components of reef habitats and why coral can be found in so many spots in the world’s oceans.

“I thought it was really interesting because coral is so beautiful and it can adapt to live in all different waters,” Chuc said.

Chuc, a student at Shorecliffs Middle School in San Clemente, was among more than 100 middle school girls from Orange, San Diego and Los Angeles counties who took advantage of a girls-only ocean science conference Saturday at the Ocean Institute.

The event was part the institute’s 11-year effort to get girls in middle and high school interested in all types of ocean sciences with hands-on training and workshops. Presentations were held aboard the institute’s research vessel, the Sea Explorer, and at the institute’s labs.

Eight female scientists from institutions including UCLA, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and Algalita Marine Research and Education were on hand to help the girls explore careers in such areas as oceanography, marine ecology, biochemistry and deep sea science.

Read more here.