Christine Chang and her research partners, Mia Daniel-Morales and Rachel Davison, stood tall and confident in front of their slide show projection. One at a time, they presented their scientific research using photos and graphs to a small in-person and robust online audience. The trio reflected on their research project, how slope and aspect affect wildflowers in the alpine environment, and explained the process of conducting field research in Colorado’s mountains.

After they clicked their last slide the audience applauded their work. Before heading offstage, the group fielded questions from researchers and eager parents and relatives online. One asked: How did science in the field differ from science classes in school?

“A lot of the science I do in the classroom is on paper. I love the environment and I love science; it’s good to know these two things can go together,” said Chang. “I can spend time outdoors and do science.”

Chang and her two group mates participated in CIRES’ 2024 Girls* on Rock expedition. Presenting research findings is the final step in completing the 12-day summer course, a free wilderness science education program for high school youth ages 16-17. The program welcomes cisgender girls, transgender, agender, Two Spirit, nonbinary, intersex, and genderqueer youth. 

Part of Inspiring Girls* Expeditions, Girls* on Rock was started in 2018 by three CU Boulder graduate students who shared a love for science and the outdoors. Housed in CU Boulder’s Center for Education, Engagement, and Evaluation (CEEE), a part of CIRES, the program hobbled through the pandemic and a few years of patchy funding. This year, the National Science Foundation (NSF) granted the program an award that will fully fund three years. 

“I am so excited that the NSF funding allows the team to build a strong program that will provide ongoing career support for the participating youth and inspiration for the youth,” said Anne Gold, CIRES Fellow and CEEE director. “We are building on a strong foundation of volunteer-led work and are now able to take next steps in the program design and participant support.”

Girls* on Rock seeks to support participants who have experienced barriers to science education or outdoor experiences. Melisa Diaz, lead PI of the NSF grant and assistant professor at The Ohio State University, is inspired to help others have an experience she didn’t know was possible when she was young.

“The first time I had ever camped outside was when I was on the Greenland Ice Sheet as a young scientist,” Diaz said. “To have this experience as a teenager is really cool.” 

Last year, lead investigators Pacifica Sommers, Diaz, and Gold, wrote the NSF grant. When Diaz moved to The Ohio State University, Girls* on Rock expanded into two homes and broadened its reach with the potential to recruit participants from the Midwest. The program logistics and evaluation remained with CEEE to maintain easy access to the program’s field locations. 

Prior to 2024, the program was mostly volunteer-run and lacked a consistent curriculum. Diaz and team designed a new base-level model they plan to tweak over the next few years after acquiring feedback from the 2024 cohort as well as future cohorts. Diaz based the new curriculum off of the strata of Rocky Mountain foothills, focusing the science of how depositional environments build on one another. Each summer CEEE evaluators run focus groups  to determine how well the program has met its learning objectives, and understand its impact on participants.

In July, the group of nine participants with three instructors embarked on the first section of their journey: front-country camping to get to know each other and learn basic outdoor and science skills.They learned rock climbing skills, summited a 12,000-foot peak, and learned how to shelter from the rain — a valuable skill to master when spending 24 hours a day outside.

“Participants spend several weeks prior to the expedition getting to know one another and ask questions via virtual meetings,” Chelsea Zaniboni, the program coordinator for Girls* on Rock, said. “Starting the expedition in the front country allows the team to build confidence and make a staggered transition into a new environment.”

After four days in the front country, the group transitioned to backpacking, cramming their personal belongings, group gear like tents, stoves and pots, science instruments, and art supplies into 60-liter backpacks before hiking four miles to an alpine meadow that would serve as a basecamp for five days. “Gear fairies,” a team of volunteers, accompanied them and carried additional food and gear into the backcountry to ensure those 60-liter packs weren’t overloaded.

At both sites, participants learned to fulfill various leadership roles in camp like cooking, cleaning dishes outside, minimizing human impacts, water purification, and navigation. Each day one person was assigned as the group’s journalist and another as an artist. 

Participants were divided into three teams and designed their own research experiments, investigating soil nitrogen, tree age based on their rings, and patterns of wildflower growth. They also spent hours completing nature-based art activities where they painted the fine details of tree leaves and flowers or sketched the mountain horizon in the distance. Each day also included a mindfulness activity like yoga. Conditions included rain, lightning, hail, and more mosquitos than they cared to count. Small creatures, like pikas, marmots, and ptarmigans, visited basecamp often. 

The last day they hiked out to the trailhead accompanied by nearly a dozen gear fairies. Leaving the backcountry was a bittersweet experience for most, but they looked forward to showers and beds at CU Boulder’s Mountain Research Station in Nederland. Then, they spent hours analyzing and interpreting their research findings and crafting their presentations. 

Back in civilization, members of the group giggled as they recounted their time in the mountains. For many, it was a difficult 12 days. But the feeling of accomplishment outweighed most challenges.

“At first, I was very nervous and I was like, why am I here? Why did I sign up for this? Now that I'm done with it this was such an eye-opening experience,” participant Mina Alsafi said. “I made so many new friends and so many things I would have never thought I would see, done so many things I would have never thought I'd done. It was such a great experience and I would definitely recommend it.” 

Several weeks after returning home, participants reflected on their experience with the CEEE evaluation team. In online focus groups, several participants talked about ways the expedition challenged them, helped them learn new ways to do science, and the mentorship from the three skilled instructors.

Evaluators asked participants to think about themselves, art, science, and how the three overlapped, then how these concepts changed for them before and after the expedition. 

One participant said, "Before the expedition, I kind of separated art and science. I never really did them together. But after the expedition, all the experiments and art that we did, I was able to connect them more and use them together.”

In addition to gaining confidence in their skills, the group shared memorable experiences like seeing double rainbows and a moose. One participant reflected on standing by the lake as a group quietly looking for salamanders. She called it a bonding experience, as was rock climbing: “... when we did rock climbing, we had to belay each other and I felt like it allowed us to get more trust, like have more trust in each other especially. Since you had to trust the person that was belaying wouldn’t drop you.” 

The evaluators at CEEE will work with Girls* on Rock leadership to provide new insights and feedback for the 2025 program along with reporting on the outcomes and impact of the program as a whole. Anne Gold reflected on this year's process, noting the program evaluation is designed with multiple goals.

“On one hand, we capture the impacts of the program, ways on how it can be improved and identify what aspects are key for success,” Gold said. “On the other hand, our program reflections with the participants are an important exercise for them to reflect on their experiences, generate an understanding of what the program meant to them — these reflective exercises are an important part of the journey.”