Girls on Rock

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Girls on Rock

Girls on Rock offers a challenging, tuition-free wilderness expedition which strives to build intellectual, leadership, and physical confidence in high school girls so that they may follow their passions and dreams, despite society’s often negative impacts on self esteem and the socio-economic or cultural barriers they may face. As professional women field scientists, artists, and wilderness guides, we mentor girls to step outside of their comfort zone and into their “growth zone” in order to explore the natural world around them, using the real processes of scientific discovery, artistic expression, backcountry travel, and technical rock climbing. Through our program we hope to show girls their true capabilities and tenacity.

Girls on Rock runs under the umbrella of Inspiring Girls Expeditions, which are modeled after “language immersion” experiences. Each summer our team of 8-9 teenage girls and 3-4 instructors will spend 12 days fully immersed in science, exploring and learning about the alpine landscape in which the expedition is based. We will connect science with all aspects of daily life with the goal of creating lifelong advocates for Earth science, specifically, and the scientific process as a whole, regardless of whether or not they decide to specialize in science in college. In addition, the girls on the team will gain self-confidence by working through physical, intellectual, and social challenges in a safe, supportive environment.

The creation of Girls on Rock began in 2014 by Evelyn Cheng and Megan Blanchard, who had met and become friends in graduate school at the University of Colorado Boulder. Having been inspired by the original Inspiring Girls Expedition, Girls on Ice, they knew they wanted to create a similar expedition centered around climbing in the Rocky Mountains. The Girls on Rock team has now blossomed to include Christina Carr, Mylene Jacquemart, and Lyra Pierotti, and we are ecstatic to say that we’re finally ready to launch this summer! Thanks to the support of Dr. Erin Pettit, an amazing team of motivated women scientists and alpinists, and the generous support from REI’s Force of Nature Grant, the National Science Foundation, Mammut, Scarpa, Sea to Summit, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the University of Colorado Boulder, Girls on Rock will become the latest expedition to be included in Inspiring Girls Expeditions.