
The Colby Achievement Program in the Sciences offers hands-on research experiences in biology, chemistry, environmental science, and other disciplines to incoming students who are underrepresented in the sciences. CAPS begins with a summer bridge program and continues with academic mentoring and social activities during the academic year. This summer, for the first time since the pandemic, the 13th cohort of CAPS students came to campus for an intensive five-week program of STEM education and cocurricular and extracurricular activities.
The students conducted research on campus and spent three days on Allen Island, part of Colby’s new Island Campus off midcoast Maine. The program also included day trips around Maine to learn about organic farming, stock up on supplies for the winter, and experience whitewater rafting at The Forks.
Multimedia Producer Caitlin Penna spent several days with the students to create this photographic essay.







A student holds a stingless male bee as Zora Lewis ‘26 pulls strands of a polymer called polycaprolactone in a course taught by Professor of Chemistry and CAPS Program Co-Director Jeff Katz.





A student chases an elusive bee during an outing on Allen Island in July. Students surveyed bumblebee species on the island and studied their ability to pollinate plants.



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