OSEP Summer Program Registration

How to Register for a Class

Click on the title of the class for which you would like to register.
Select the register button and fill in the required information. If registering for more than on class, you must register for each class individually.
Once you submit your registration form a window with the payment link will appear. Please click the payment link to complete your registration and payment.
If you have any problems or concerns please call/text or email Carole Lester at 760-914-3722 or carole.lester@ucsb.edu

Scholarships

We don’t want a family’s financial difficulties to prevent any child from participating in our Outdoor Science Education summer programs. We offer full and partial scholarships for those in need. If your family is facing financial difficulties, we invite you to complete our confidential scholarship application. Scholarship awards are limited, based upon need, available funds and number of qualifying applicants. Applications are reviewed on a case by case basis. Please contact Carole Lester – carole.lester@ucsb.edu, 760-914-3722 for an application and if you have any questions.

2025 Summer Programs

Registration opens March 28 at 5PM

Click on the + sign to the right of the Class title to Register

The grade level listed is the grade student is entering in Fall 2025

Fantastic Fish (DUAL LANGUAGE) – $135
Dates: June 16 to June 20
Times: 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Grade(s): 1-2
Location: Valentine Camp
Teacher: Kathi Kirkeby

Dual Language Class. Must be proficient in Spanish/English at 1st grade level; admission subject to the instructor. Come learn about the amazing world of fish. We will learn all about fish and their underwater world. Do fish ever sleep? How do they breath under all that water? Were there any fish here a long time ago? These are all questions we will explore through art, books, hands on
experiments and more. Come join our ichthyoid (fish like) adventure at Valentine!

Registration will open March 28, 2025 at 5pm

Involving Dissolving (DUAL LANGUAGE) – $135
Dates: June 23 to June 27
Times: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Grade(s): 3
Location: Valentine Camp
Teacher: Shelly Escobar

Must be proficient in Spanish/English at 2nd/3rd grade level; admission subject to the instructor. Come see what happens when we mix powders with liquids, play with evaporation, and create crystallized masterpieces. Will everything we mix dissolve? We’ll use resources at Valentine, read stories, and create chemical reactions involving dissolving during this week of scientific exploration. Please note, non-toxic materials will be used.

Registration will open March 28, 2025 at 5pm

Hurray for Habitats! -$135
Dates: July 7 to July 11
Times: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Grade(s): 1-2
Location: Valentine Camp
Teacher: Judy Burgenbauch

Owls, mule deer, rabbits, coyotes, bugs and bees all make their homes at Valentine. We will observe animals or evidence of animals that live in the high desert and/or riparian zones of the Eastern Sierra. As young scientists, we will record our findings and observations on our Habitat Boards. If you like to hike, explore, play games, and do outdoor science activities, then come join this expedition

Registration will open March 28, 2025 at 5pm

Wild Wanderings (Spanish for beginners) – $135
Dates: July 7 to July 11
Times: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Grade(s): 4-5
Location: Valentine Camp
Teacher: Ana Danielson

Students should be excited about learning some Spanish but don’t need to be proficient in Spanish. Come have fun learning in a new language and in English. In this class we will practice grounding ourselves in nature using mindfulness techniques that explore the 5 senses and literature. We will explore the outdoors with a new awareness of how our minds and bodies respond to different stimuli.

En esta clase practicamos la conexión con la naturaleza mediante técnicas de atención plena que exploran los cinco sentidos y la literatura. Exploramos el aire libre con una nueva conciencia de cómo nuestras mentes y cuerpos responden a diferentes estímulos.

Registration will open March 28, 2025 at 5pm

Mountain Math Magic – $135
Dates: July 14 to July 18
Times: 9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Grade(s): 3-4
Location: Valentine Camp
Teacher: Thea Franceschi

Through activities engaging with nature in the beautiful Valentine Reserve, we will learn how math and nature intersect. By playing math games, discovering patterns, and exploring the reserve, we will understand how math can explain the beauty and complexity of nature. Over the week, your math skills will improve, along with your understanding of math in the natural world.

Registration will open March 28, 2025 at 5pm

A Bug’s Life – $135
Dates: July 14 to July 18
Times: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Grade(s): 1-2
Location: Valentine Camp
Teacher: Anna Strathman

Come explore the unbee-lievable lives of bugs here at Valentine Camp! Search for our many-legged friends in this excell-ant program and learn why they are so important. Have you ever wondered what the world looks like for insects?Come on this artful arthropod adventure and become a young entomologist by exploring nature’s smallest neighbors – BUGS! We’ll embark on a bug safari through fields, forests, and water in search of a bug’s life.

Registration will open March 28, 2025 at 5pm

Painting in Nature – $180
Dates: July 21 to July 25
Times: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Grade(s): 5-6
Location: Valentine Camp
Teacher: Annie Barrett

Learn basic acrylic painting surrounded by the beauty of Valentine Reserve. Through a series of fun and easy projects and exercises the students will work up to creating a beautiful painting. They will also have lots of time to explore Valentine.

Registration will open March 28, 2025

Wild Island Adventure – $135
Dates: July 21 to July 25
Times: 9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Grade(s): 4-5
Location: SNARL
Teacher: Carole Lester

Get ready for a week on the Wild Islands at SNARL. From the water we drink to the oceans that circle the Earth, liquids are everywhere. We will explore the properties of water and the wetlands surrounding the islands by observing the creatures that live there and discovering how liquids do what they do. Come prepared to get wild and wet as you learn all about our most precious resources.

Registration will open March 28, 2025 at 5pm

Aquatic Adventures in the Eastern Sierra – $270
Dates: July 28 to August 01
Times: 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Grade(s): 7-9
Location: SNARL
Teacher: Sandi Roll

Come with us as we learn about the wildly diverse Sierra Nevada aquatic world. We will visit and survey lakes, streams, and hot and cold springs. We will observe a variety of flora and fauna that live near and in the water. This camp will introduce you to biotic and abiotic sampling and analysis techniques. Hands-on experience collecting and analyzing samples from the phenomenal aquatic realms in our backyard.

Registration will open March 28, 2025 at 5pm

Beautiful Bats – $144
Dates: August 04 to August 07 (no class on Friday 8/8)
Times: 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Grade(s): 2-3
Location: Valentine Camp
Teacher: Michelle Kubiak

Bats are familiar to nearly everyone, yet most people have never seen one up close. Are bats dangerous? Do bats get tangled in your hair? Folktales and fantasy are all part of people’s ideas about bats. In this class you will learn the truth about bats is more astonishing than any of the stories about them.

Registration will open March 28, 2025 at 5pm

Animal Adventure (DUAL LANGUAGE) – $180
Dates: August 11 to August 15
Times: 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Grade(s): 4
Location: Valentine Camp
Teacher: Tatum Sandvigen

Must be proficient in Spanish/English at 4th grade level; admission subject to instructor. Ready to learn more about your local animals? In this camp we will become animal experts. We will watch animals, look for animal clues, paint animals, learn about animal adaptation, and more! There’s no better place to learn more about animals than their own habitat, and Valentine Reserve is the perfect place for it.

Registration will open March 28, 2025 at 5pm