Colorado’s beloved mountains, rivers, forests, and desert canyons are more than scenic destinations; they are ecosystems with passionate people working behind the scenes to protect them.
Women in Colorado have stepped up as advocates, scientists, policymakers, and grassroots leaders to champion the natural world. From conservation campaigns to scientific research in the field, these inspiring environmental legends have advanced the protection of Colorado’s wild places for all of us.
Gudy Gaskill
Gudy Gaskill is widely celebrated as catalyst of the Colorado Trail, which stretches over 560 miles from Denver to Durango. By climbing almost 90,000 vertical feet, hikers can traverse six wilderness areas and eight mountain ranges with stunning scenery throughout the journey. Starting in the 1970s, Gaskill helped establish one of the most iconic long-distance trails in the country, marking hundreds of miles of trail over mountain passes and organizing volunteers to support this effort.
Decades later, her legacy remains as new generations of hikers enjoy the Colorado Trail. Her visionary leadership and forethought paved the way for everyone who enjoys the trail today and for years to come. She was named to the Colorado Women’s Fall of Fame in 2002.
Estella Leopold
As a renowned paleoecologist and conservationist, Estelle Leopold’s work helped to preserve the Florissant Fossil Beds as a protected National Monument. After earning a doctorate in botany from Yale in 1955, she spent two decades at the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver, her research on coral atolls helped confirm Charles Darwin’s hypothesis on the evolution of vegetation. After leading field trips to the fossil beds in the Florissant Valley, southwest of Denver, Leopold and her colleagues formed Defenders of Florissant in 1969.
When she was named to the National Academy of Sciences, she joined her brothers Starker and Luna who had already received the honor, and that was the only time the academy had three siblings who achieved the honor. Leopold’s book Saved in Time details the history of the Florissant Valley and how people were able to band together to protect the fossil beds created over 30 million years ago.
Chelsea Beebe
As part of the Nature Conservancy’s science team in Colorado, conservation ecologist Chelsea Beebe focuses on protecting threatened species like the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse. Due to habitat loss and degradation, the mouse is now considered threatened.
Beebe has identified habitat needs and created management plans at the park and county levels to support the restoration of populations of this mouse native to Colorado’s Front Range. Her work in collaborative conservation and monitoring recovery progress demonstrates how specialized scientific knowledge can translate directly into conservation action on the ground.
Tania Schoennagel
As an ecologist studying fire and forest health at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, Tania Schoennagel conducts research to learn more about wildfires, forest resilience, and insects’ influence on forest health, which are all critical factors in Colorado’s high-altitude regions.
Her long-term ecological studies inform how land managers and policymakers respond to fire-prone landscapes and climate change pressures.
She has participated on panels throughout Colorado and the Mountain West to share her knowledge and educate others on how to protect Colorado’s ecosystems.
Along with many other people throughout the state, these conservation leaders have illustrated the power of what can be accomplished when science and advocacy intersect, making Colorado a better place with places to explore and enjoy for generations to come.