A biologist monitoring a nestbox with nestlings during camp.

Summer Camps

 

The 2025 Bio Boot Camp sessions are full with waitlists. Please mark your calendars for January 2026 to begin the application process for next year summer. 

Bio Boot Camp Application Process

We want to provide opportunities to as many people as possible, but there are many constraints that we have no control over. We regret that we have wait lists, but we don't want to compromise the quality of the camps. We do take into consideration whether a camper has previously applied to the camp and been wait listed as it shows a strong desire to attend the camp. We also take into consideration the grade of the camper. Applications typically come from all over California, but also across the US and the world. 

 Important 2025 Dates*:

  • Friday, January 24
    • Application submission period begins
  • Saturday, March 1
    • ​​​​​​​Application submission period closes at 11:00 pm (PST)
  • Tuesday, March 11 (Changed from 3/10)
    • ​​​​​​​Emails offering a spot in the camp or the waitlist will be sent by this date. Confirmations are then required.   
  • Monday, March 17
    • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Last day to submit optional, needs-based scholarship form. 
  • Friday, March 24 
    • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Needs-based scholarships awarded and confirmed campers will be sent registration codes.
  • Thursday, April 17 
    • ​​​​​​​All campers should be registered with Campus Recreation Youth Programs by this date. If additional time is needed, please let us know.
    • There will be a mandatory Zoom meeting for selected campers and their families in June. ​​​​​​​​​​​​

We truly welcome feedback and suggestions. Campers and their families have influenced the evolution of the camps in countless ways and will continue to do so. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Contact Tabatha Yang, Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis, at tabyang@ucdavis.edu, if you have any questions. Please use the words "Bio Boot Camp question" in the subject line. ​

2025 Camp Forms

The application is camper-driven. That means they must write their own mini essay.
We may need to talk with student applicants to clarify or verify their answers. We will do so through the phone number provided for the responsible adult. 

We don't want the cost of camps to be a barrier to attending, so with help from the Bohart Museum Society, we offer needs-based scholarships. If you would like to donate to these scholarships, please do so through the Bohart Museum Society and indicate it is for "BBC Camp scholarships." Typically they are for 50% of the cost of camp, but this can be adjusted on a case-by-case situation. Applying or not-applying for a scholarship has no bearing on the general application. Families can apply in advance for a needs-based scholarship, or, if offered a spot in a camp, up to a week after the initial offer. 

Here are the application forms:
 

Camp Descriptions & Dates

Bio Boot Camp-Coastal

For students entering grades 7, 8 & 9 in fall 2025

Together with the UCD Museum of Wildlife & Fish Biology and Campus Recreation Youth Programs we launched Bio Boot Camp in 2011, a camp for junior high aged students who are interested in the natural sciences. There is limited enrollment and so we ask that the students themselves be part of the enrollment process. This is a day camp from 9:00 am-3:00 pm on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday based at UC Davis. Thursday is Juneteenth, a holiday and so there will be no camp that day. Then on Friday morning we travel to UC Davis Bodega Bay Field Station on the coast. We return to Davis on Saturday afternoon by 5:00 pm. 

Bio Boot Camp overview
We get to know each other, play games, explore the UC Davis campus, and go behind the scenes at the two host museums: the Bohart Museum of Entomology and the Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology. We go deep into standard museum practices from collecting data to preparing specimens including invertebrates and vertebrates. This can be hands-on or observational based on individual student's preferences. We also spend time outside mucking around in local streams, catching insects, observing birds and exploring nature with guest scientists. Bring a change of clothes and a sense of adventure! Friday morning the vans get loaded with campers and gear and we visit the Bodega Bay UC Reserve and Field Station to compare the nature and biodiversity of the Central Valley to the California coast. We stay at the field station and eat in the dining hall. We put into practice everything we learned at camp and we have a lot of fun while doing it.

Transportation (vans), 3 dining hall meals (Friday night dinner, Saturday morning breakfast and lunch), and housing (a large communal bunk house with bunk beds, pillows, blankets, towels and linens) are provided. This camp has an enrollment of 12 students and 2 instructors. 

Bio Boot Camp - Coastal Session
Dates are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, June 16, 17, 18 and Friday-Saturday, June 20-21, 2025 (Thursday, June 19 is Juneteenth, a federal holiday, and so camps are closed on this day.)
Monday-Wednesday: 9:00 am-3:00 pm & Friday 9:00 am-Saturday 5:00 pm
TOTAL COST is $475 
Partial need-based scholarships are available.

Bio Boot Camp 2.0

For students entering grades 10, 11 & 12 in fall 2025
Together the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UCD Museum of Wildlife & Fish Biology, and Campus Recreation launched Bio Boot Camp 2.0 in 2013 after much enthusiasm from Bio Boot Campers who graduated out of the junior high program. The camp spans 7 days and 6 nights, so Sunday at 1:00 pm to Saturday at 2:00 pm. Pick-up and drop-off will be at the museums on the UC Davis Campus. The first day the students drive up to the mountains in vans to get to know the ecology of the Sierra and each other and settle in at the UC Berkeley's Sagehen Creek Field Station outside of Truckee, CA . There the campers will conduct a group project and mini individual project and explore the area and discuss college and career paths. However, this is still camp, so there are wandering hikes, exploring Lake Tahoe, silly games, and a lot of fun throughout. We will be stopping at the UC Davis campus on Friday for part of the day to tour the museums and the campus before traveling to UC Davis Quail Ridge Field Station outside of Winters, CA for the last night of camp. Campers will get to compare the Sierra to the Central Valley, prepare for their presentations  and have their costumed dinner party. Transportation (vans), housing (cabins for 6 nights and open "safari" group tents for the last night) and food will be provided (we do our best to accommodate diverse dietary needs), but campers will be expected to help prepare group meals and clean-up after themselves. This camp has an enrollment of 10 students and 3 instructors.

Dates are July 20-26, 2025
Sunday 1:00 pm -Saturday 2:00 pm (7 days, 6 nights)
TOTAL COST is $1200
Partial need-based scholarships are available.

Quotes

Overall, what was the most beneficial part of the program? "Seeing my child so enthusiastic and engaged with learning about biology in realistic settings and doing realistic tasks. She has learned some practical scientific skills that most people don’t even become exposed to until a much later age". - a parent's evaluation (Bio Boot Camp 2011)

"I loved this camp! It went far past all my best expectations."- a camper's anonymous evaluation (Bio Boot Camp 2016)

"It was so fun!  Loved all the people & activities."- a camper's anonymous evaluation (BBC 2.0 2016)

"I was elated that BBC [2.0] had a broad view of biological topics."-a camper's anonymous evaluation (BBC 2.0 2016)

Other Teen programs:
Hands-on science

Outdoor experience