What makes people choose STEM?
A career in healthcare begins with being fascinated by science at an early age. Investigators of Science was created over twenty years ago to do just that—introduce STEM subjects to middle school students and show them what it’s like to be in college.
According to a 2023 study, “If you want someone to be good at something, you want them to develop a sense of efficacy, which is about putting them in a position where they can see themselves doing it and succeeding at it, and seeing other people that look like them doing it as well.”
Partnering with Eastern Oregon University
The most valuable part of the event is that students don’t just get to try out scientific exploration; they get to be guided through the experiments by current EOU students and professors. This, paired with walking around campus, eating lunch in the cafeteria, and using the college’s equipment, helps students visualize what their future could hold.
We have seen this event succeed firsthand—every year there are EOU student volunteers who attended the event when they were in middle school, and it reaffirms that this event is doing what it needs to do.
What happened this year?
At the 2025 event, we had 88 students from 16 schools, with most students coming from Pendleton, La Grande, Milton-Freewater, and Pilot Rock. 55 volunteers came to participate as well.
Students explored a costume party gone wrong--Dracula's body was found, then disappeared! After investigating the crime scenes, students rotated through Biology, Chemistry, Math, and Health & Human Performance stations. They learned how to decode secret messages, analyze samples of various substances to determine their source, learned the science behind various yard games, and used the scientific method to make a guess at what happened to Dracula.
Thank you to the following organizations that contributed to the event’s success:
Photos are from 2025 Investigators of Science.
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