Applications open for the KBS GALS program; free summer program for high schoolers offered for second year

The Girls on Outdoor Adventure for Leadership and Science, or GALS, program is returning to the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station this summer.

About GALS

GALS is a free summer science program for high school students to learn science hands-on while overnight camping and backpacking through the wilderness. The inaugural program, which took place in July 2025, took participants from KBS along some 20 miles of the North Country Trail, and back again.

During and outside of the hiking, participants learned about the many different paths one can take to becoming a scientist, got hands-on experience in a lab, and developed their own independent research projects. They shared those projects at the end of the two-week program during a reception at KBS.

A previous participant in the program said of their experience, “GALS was an experience literally like no other. I expected this program to be a camping trip that incorporated science topics, but my expectations were far exceeded.”

“My favorite part of the GALS program was reaching and hiking along the bluffs of Lake Superior,” said a member of the 2025 program.

2026 program and application details

The Michigan GALS program will begin and end at the Kellogg Biological Station, located at 3700 East Gull Lake Drive, Hickory Corners, and will run from July 25 to Aug. 8, 2026.

GALS was created to increase opportunities for Michigan high school students who identify as female or gender-nonconforming, students of color, students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, and other groups historically excluded from STEM fields. However, all are welcome to apply.Applications are open now through March 2, 2025. Contact Misty Klotz with questions at GALS@kbs.msu.edu.