Welcome Campers, to another great year at IGGPPCamp! Each year, participants of IGGPPCamp are sorted into ‘Troops’. (This is optional– you can still participate in camp if you don’t sign up for a Troop!) These smaller groups are led by 3 counselors who will help organize Troop specific events and activities. Get to know the Campers in your Troop, show your Troop Pride, and collaborate on the Camp Cup Challenge! This page is your handy guide to all of this year’s Troops and the fantastic and illustrious counselors who will be leading them!
TROOP Bunsen
The chemistry in Troop Bunsen always gets a great reaction. Anything but basic, these campers are in their element both in the lab and around the campground. Need solutions? Troop Bunsen has you covered.
Counselors: West, Philomath, and Beaker
Dale (they/them) aka Counselor West
Though they are more versed in the humanities, Counselor West do believe in the power of SCIENCE!!! and ominous liquids with funky colors. A librarian by trade, they spend more time and digital storage space than they should taking pictures of flowers and bugs, bothering innocent birds and investigating local spiders. You might catch them on Discord as Doc Von Ondine.
Top 5 geek loves: Fantasy, horror, TTRPGs, hard rock/heavy metal, succulents
Favorite camp activity: The book game, and games in general. Also arts and crafts.
Favorite camp food: Anything nutty and chocolatey!
Favorite camp memory: Helping a fellow camper set up a pillow fort over Discord, nearly peeing myself from laughter watching Barbarella.
Beth (she/her) aka Counselor Philomath
Due to the curse of unquenchable curiosity, Counselor Philomath has been known to regularly exchange sleep for learning that is completely unrelated to her occupation. Late night reading of scientific journals has led to an abundance of obscure knowledge and a shortage of daytime sanity. When not obsessing over recent deep-brain, deep-space, or deep-sea discoveries, she can be found crafting, playing tabletop games, owning a business, advocating for families with young children, parenting, and leading a scout troop. Counselor Philomath is also known as PhoenixEmerald on Discord.
Top 5 geek loves: SCIENCE, reading (mostly fantasy), BTS, LEGO, crafting
Favorite camp activity: Live Games
Favorite camp food: S’mores!
Favorite camp memory: T-shirt designs from Tee KO game several years ago. They were PRICELESS.
Caitlyn (she/her) aka Counselor Beaker
When Counselor Beaker (also known as blabberbop) isn’t assisting her local mad scientist with their dubiously ethical experiments, she likes to fancy herself a minion of the arts (and crafts) and spends most of her free time painting poorly or learning new hobbies. She is looking forward to helping Troop Bunsen bubble over with fun and excitement!
Top 5 geek loves: Lord of the Rings, The Alien franchise, legos, historical architecture, and boardgames
Favorite camp activity: Any and all crafts!
Favorite camp food: kebabs, or really anything roasted over a good fire
Favorite camp memory: Playing madlibs as a group! We always end up with such goofy stories.
TROOP THORN
Psst. Hey, you. Yeah, you… what would you say if I told you there was a troop that enjoyed the…darker side of the botanical world? The twisted vines growing on Four Shadow Island (which is probably haunted and definitely off limits)…the flowers that are beautiful but hold secrets…the magical world all around us, hidden in plain sight? You look like the kind of person who might enjoy what’s hidden in our secret garden. So, what do you say? Grab your grimoire, and head on over to the greenhouse of Troop Thorn.
Counselors: Nightshade, Peachy, and Venus Flytrap
Bri (they/them/shem/she/her) aka Counselor Nightshade
Bri, aka Counselor Nightshade, is returning for their 5th year and first time as a counselor. They spend their time writing a fantasy novel in hopes to publish it one day. Otherwise they are cuddled up on the couch with their black cat, Bobby, reading through the Outland series currently or playing Infinity Nikki. They share the outfits they make in Infinity Nikki on instagram @zanxnikki and handmade art of ceramics, jewelry, and paintings @ the_sassy_fox. They love the spooky and the weird. Witchy is the vibe as they learn more about herbs and pin creepy crawlers that they find dead. True crime has always held an interest to them but so does a good horror film scare. You can find them daydreaming about mothman and to one day visit his statue (when its not September!)
Top 5 geek loves: Video games: Legend of Zelda & Infinity Nikki, Reading, Writing, Crafting or making art, Spooky
Favorite camp activity: Watchalongs and crafts
Favorite camp food: Smores chex party mix
Favorite camp memory: My first camp! Chatting with everyone and feeling so welcome in a community 💚
Kim (she/her) aka Counselor Peachy
Hi, I’m Kim…you may know me better around these parts as Peachy. I’m so happy to be part of Troop Thorn this year for IGGPPCamp! It’s true I’m a wee bit nature-averse, which might make this seem like an odd fit. While I prefer to admire things from the craft cabin or lounging on the lakeshore with a good book, I can occasionally be found making notes about the plant life around me; I’m especially interested in things that can be mixed into cocktails (or maybe a potion or two). And being from the Midwestern US, I can also tell you about the science of corn sweat (if I have to harbor this knowledge, other’s should be as blessed). You can follow me on Instagram & Threads @thepeachmartini to see what kind of nonsense I get up to.
Top 5 geek loves: Books, zines, snail mail, 80s horror flicks, coffee
Favorite camp activity: Reading by the lakeshore, or trying to feed the lake monster…if there were a lake monster…
Favorite camp food: s’mores!
Favorite camp memory: That time we absolutely didn’t go to Four Shadow Island to see why it was forbidden.
Mathilde (she/her) aka Counselor Venus Flytrap
Camp Counselor Venus Flytrap lives in France, where she tries (not so successfully) to grow herbs and carnivorous plants, befriend bugs and learn everything she can about nature. She’s been waiting all year long for IGGPPC Summer Camp, because it’s her favorite time of the year! She loves biology, cinema, crafting, music, stargazing and learning new plant or animal names. If you’re searching for her, she’ll be in the 19th century style Greenhouse, talking to plants and animals. You can find her on Instagram @matseith
Top 5 geek loves: Horror movies, Dinosaurs, Bugs, Science-fiction and Monster High
Favorite camp activity: Camp Cup and watchalongs
Favorite camp food: S’mores!!
Favorite camp memory: The Barbarella watchalong we did a few years ago, campers still talk to me about it!!
TROOP CHAOS
In Troop Chaos, we are all about the unexpected. If you are into science that goes a little off the rails, then you are in the right cabin! Whether you are into testing questionable hypotheses (dinosaur theme parks, anyone?) or concocting interesting new solutions, your creativity is free to flow here. Grab your notebooks, some test tubes and embrace the mad scientist within!
Counselors: AstroViolets, Mad Witchy, and Skippyfly Effect
Mel (she/her) aka Counselor AstroViolets
Mel is a freelance writer and Chemistry student from Wales, UK. She is a proud parent to two furkids (a Frenchie and a rescue cat) and one baby bonsai tree! Mel loves mermaids and mythical creatures and prefers werewolves over vampires, but either will do. 🙂
Top 5 geek loves: Harry Potter, Tolkien, Discworld, Star Trek: Discovery, and DnD
Favorite camp activity: The RPGs, but I’m always down for a s’more too 🙂
Favorite camp food: Smores for sweet, mac ‘n’ cheese for savoury
Favorite camp memory: Watching the live action Little Mermaid film last year <3
Zoe (she/her) aka Counselor Mad Witchy
Zoe, aka Counselor Mad Witchy, is returning for her 3rd year as a counselor and 11th year at camp overall. She hosts the monthly Sunday Crafternoon and looks forward to trying to complete as many camp crafts as she can in a weekend. As a child, she was obsessed dinosaurs and Jurassic Park, along with an interest in most natural sciences. She remembers submitting a science fair project comparing the life of various battery brands while playing Pokemon on Gameboy Color (the project did not grade well). While science may not be her strong suit, she has an interest and appreciation for it. And a soft spot for mad scientists…
Top 5 geek loves: Anything magical or fantastical, video games, crafting, coffee and cats
Favorite camp activity: Blanket Fort Wine Night and trying to make all the crafts I can without burning out
Favorite camp food: S’mores and adult beverages
Favorite camp memory: Being Captain Crafty Kraken of Troop Scallywag!
Christina (she/they/proton) aka Counselor Skippyfly Effect
As a camp veteran, Skippy loves to spread the camp goodness and love with everyone. Whether she’s A troop counselor or causing Chaos in the camp kitchen. By day she’s a systems analyst and by night mom to an almost adult son and wife to her husband of 20yrs whom she met playing Magic the Gathering. She recently was able to visit Universal’s Epic Universe where she got to visit Berk and Super Mario world. If you have ever been to a theme park you know they are full of Chaos. Expect some of that brought along to camp.
Top 5 geek loves: Star everything, baking, yoga, Packers Football and Dungeon crawler carl.
Favorite camp activity: Dance Party…because I run it.
Favorite camp food: Hot dogs on a stick
Favorite camp memory: Year I was counselor for Troop 13…We had this crazy activity that was interactive with campers. I was so unsure about it working, and it turned out so good and everyone liked it