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A camper gets up close with a bat.
Campers meet an Auburn Performance Services dog, while learning about how our furry friends can help make our community safe.
Students examine aquatic life in local creeks during Curious Curators camp
Students learn about meteors and create their own during a physics demonstration.
Campers prepare their robot for a VEX competition.
Students from VCOM demonstrate common medical diagnostic techniques during camp.
More than 500 students spent their summer discovering, building and exploring during Science Matters summer camps, hosted by the College of Sciences and Mathematics (COSAM) Outreach office.
The camps offered six weeks of STEM experiences for students entering grades one through nine, welcoming a record 514 campers. The program awarded 18 scholarships to expand access to STEM learning and ended the summer with only 16 unfilled camp seats, while several camps maintained extensive waitlists.
Campers explored weather, biology, zoology, human anatomy, medical microbiology, coding and 3D printing through hands-on experiments, engineering challenges and laboratory activities. Additional camp themes included Storybook STEM, biodiversity and competitive robotics.
"It was really cool getting to be on a college campus and feel like a mini scientist," said rising fifth-grader Zoey Rice. "My favorite part was using the microscope and learning how scientists study germs."
Rice participated in Medical Microbiology, one of the summer's most advanced camps. Led by Auburn lecturer Rebecca Riggs, Ph.D., campers cultured microorganisms, practiced microbiology techniques and explored anatomy while gaining firsthand experience with laboratory procedures and careers in medicine and biomedical sciences.
A young camper learns robotics programming.
"Watching campers gain confidence in the lab was incredibly rewarding," Riggs said. "They were eager to use scientific equipment, ask thoughtful questions and discover how microbiology connects to everyday life."
Robotics campers designed, built and programmed competition robots while developing engineering, coding and teamwork skills. Several camps focused on the 2026-27 VEX IQ Competition, giving students a head start before the school robotics season.
Through the Curious Curators camp, offered in partnership with the Auburn University Museum of Natural History, students explored Alabama's biodiversity by collecting specimens in forests, streams and grasslands while learning how museum collections are created, studied and preserved.
Younger campers also discovered STEM through Weather Wizards, Wild About STEM, Biology Buddies, Storybook STEM and Anatomy Adventures, where they built models, conducted experiments and solved engineering challenges.
"Every camp is designed to make STEM fun while helping students see themselves as scientists, engineers and problem-solvers," said Kristen Jackson, camp director. "We're excited so many families chose to spend their summer learning with us and hope these experiences inspire students to keep exploring STEM."
Science Matters and SCORE Robotics are Auburn University's signature K-12 STEM outreach programs, connecting students with Auburn faculty, facilities and hands-on learning experiences that inspire the next generation of STEM professionals.
