Grace Clark admits she is not exactly an “outside person.” The rising eighth-grader is a bit nervous about navigating her very first cold shower, but she isn’t letting a few minor discomforts stand in the way of her opportunity.
Instead of a traditional summer vacation, Clark and nine other students from St. Louis nonprofit Black Girls Do STEM will spend five days studying Costa Rica’s rainforest ecosystems. On July 26, the group will immerse themselves in the country’s ecosystems, wildlife and native plants.
“What we’re going to be doing is more hands-on,” Clark said. “We’re not going to the beach; we’re not staying at an Airbnb. We’re going to be outside learning and getting that real rainforest experience. I am excited to learn more about what nature truly is in an environment that is more nature-oriented.”
The trip is far from a standard vacation. The students will be acting as junior ecologists and conservationists, putting six weeks of workshop preparation into practice. In partnership with Friends of the Rain Forest and the Missouri Department of Conservation, they have spent the early summer developing field research skills.
Rather than just sightseeing, each student is currently working on a research project that began right here in Missouri and will span the duration of their trip. For her project, Clark is focusing on local plants.
“I want to focus on the flowers and wild plants because I don’t really know much about them,” she said. “I want to learn more about different plants that we might not see here in America — what their purpose is, how they’re made, and where they come from.”
The curriculum is designed to help students understand how everyday environmental choices in St. Louis can affect ecosystems thousands of miles away. On their final night in Costa Rica, the program will host a scientific symposium where the students will present their final discoveries.
“The purpose is always to empower our students to act locally and understand how their local actions impact the global community,” said Cynthia Chapple, founder and executive director of Black Girls Do STEM. “And so we like to say kids can act locally to impact globally.”
To get to this point, the students had to prove they were ready for the realities of field research. Chapple noted that the program’s orientation often weeds out students once they hear the gritty details of the stay.
“We really want them to know what they’re signing up for,” Chapple said. “You can’t flush tissue, and there’s really no hot water. We really want the kids to understand what a field experience is.”
Each girl attending the trip has already completed at least one year in the Black Girls Do STEM “STEM Saturday Academy” program, which focuses on fostering a deep curiosity for science, technology, engineering, and math.
Chapple, a scientist herself, founded the nonprofit out of a desire to change the industry after realizing there was little to no representation of Black women in STEM fields. According to data released by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, while Black workers make up about 8% to 9% of the science and technology workforce, Black women make up just 2% to 3%.
“We want young Black girls to realize that they can achieve whatever they would like to,” said James Turner, founder of STEM on Wheels. “But they need to be introduced at a young age to give them time to develop the memory muscles and the foundation of what it takes to succeed.”
The impact of this international trip extends far beyond the five-day experience. Joy Barsh, a graduate of the program who attended the Costa Rica trip in 2024, said the experience changed the way she thinks about conservation.
Barsh recalled the excitement of their daily hikes, exploring streams to study algae, native fish, and crustaceans. She was particularly inspired by Costa Rica’s reforestation history, witnessing how local communities stopped destroying ecosystems for quick profits, choosing instead to protect the land.
“My greatest takeaway from the trip is to be more selfless,” Barsh said. “They had to put that personal gain aside and think about how they wanted the other plants and animals and microbiomes to live and survive as well.”
As the departure date approaches, Clark and her fellow students hope the St. Louis community will step up to back their academic journey.
“Think of it as not losing money, but pouring into young Black girls who are hoping to have a great experience in Costa Rica without worrying about if there’s enough money for this or that,” Clark urged. “Think about it from your own perspective and how you would want somebody to pour into you.”
The organization is accepting donations to fund the students’ research gear and travel expenses through July 20.