Meet the riders

Kate Trudeau

After reading about various perspectives on the Colorado River, Kate dreamed of immersing herself in the ecology, geography, and culture surrounding the river. As an outdoor leadership teacher she completed two 300+ mile bike trips with teenagers. These experiences taught her that the best way to get to know a place and a community is at 10 mile per hour. With a passion for watershed health, a knack for listening to people’s stories, and a degree in science education she is well equipped to help youth investigate their relationships to wild places around them. Her past work experience includes teaching outdoor environmental education in Anchorage, Alaska and Vail, Colorado and teaching outdoor leadership for the Chugach School District.

Molly Delandsheer

Molly Delandsheer is a National Park Service ranger and, as an experienced interpreter with a passion for people and their role in protecting the natural world. She challenges the public to integrate their personal stories into outdoor experiences through discussion and story recording with the goal of creating deeper understanding and, in turn, informed environmental advocates. Through this project, she will return to her home in the Colorado River region and expand her reach beyond traditional, individual public lands protection by completing a low carbon impact expedition. She is excited to utilize the (until recently) untouched resource of youth in political change and environmental advocacy, as well as bring personal relevancy to the Colorado River and bigger-picture watershed issues.

Leah Weisman

Having grown up in soggy, green New England, Leah became fascinated by the arid west when she moved to Colorado in 2012 to be a ski bum extraordinaire.  Working and playing in an industry that relies heavily on water, she began exploring the issues surrounding water in Colorado and beyond and eventually moved on to become an environmental educator.   She transformed her personal knowledge into engaging, hands-on, and place-based lessons, which she will share with students along the Water Cycle journey.  On top of a passion for water conservation and education, Leah also just truly loves riding her bicycle and is excited to take her father’s 30 year old panniers, and her shiny, new master’s degree on the road for a few months.  

Pamela Flores

Pamela grew up first in East L.A. and then moved to Forth Worth, Texas. She studied international development with a focus in sustainability in Latin America at the University of North in Denton, Texas. Through the amazing experiences in an Environmental Geology course, she hiked and explored many of our National Parks for the very first time. This cultivated her love for the outdoors. Next up was her first SCA internship in Alaska at 21, followed by her first season doing trail work in North Cascades the very next summer. She loved trail work so much and couldn’t get enough of the lifestyle and has since worked on trail crews for almost a decade. Her trail work seasons include conservation corps in Arizona for a season, two seasons with the Forest Service and two with the Park Service. In her off seasons she is based in Bozeman, Montana and enjoys maintaining a variety of plants and try to remember to floss every night.

She is a music lover, loves to dance, an amateur gardener, a decent and dedicated cook, and a berry and mushroom forager.

Jenny Curtis

Jenny Curtis is an artist and library worker living in the northern Adirondacks. She’s never done a long distance bike trip or been to the desert before and is terribly excited to do both of those things. Jenny has worked in art/educational settings off and on for the past seven years. She graduated from college and has yet to decide whether or not that was a big mistake. Her art practice is pretty wild and the closest approximation is probably Sid, the bad boy from Toy Story. What she is looking forward to the most is learning about the people and places of the Colorado River and sharing this adventure with strong independent women.

Claire Woodward

Claire grew up in Seattle, WA and fell in love with environmental education as she studied environmental issues in college and became involved with a watershed education program. Throughout her 20s hiking, biking and being outdoors has helped Claire gain a sense of self, ease anxiety, connect with herself and others while building memories and once in a lifetime experiences. By teaching science to others, and facilitating outdoor adventures Claire hopes to build connection within communities and the natural world. With a long term goal of conserving our natural resources, Claire is excited to push her limits on this long bike trip, to work together with a bunch of awesome ladies, and to connect with the communities along the Colorado River and knows she will learn so much more than she is setting out to teach.

Rebecca Hagmuller

After hearing about the “The Water Cycle”, Rebecca knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity not to be missed. As a teacher for 15 years, passionate about integrating science and mindfulness into the classroom, it seemed like a natural fit. Rebecca thrives on a good challenge and has completed the Oregon section of the Pacific Crest Trail and the Oregon Coast Trail, both with her badass mother, as well as the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island, BC. Growing up in Cordova, Alaska, Rebecca is quite familiar with the importance of watershed projects as the mighty Copper River flows through Cordova and 23 other communities providing vital wildlife habitat and breeding grounds for wild salmon. She is excited to explore and continue to learn about the Colorado River and get to know the communities that reside along it.

Filming Advisor

Karen Du

Karen Du is a filmmaker from Denver, Colorado currently residing in sunny Los Angeles, California. While pursuing a journalism degree at Colorado State University, she discovered her passion for storytelling and the desire to connect with others on a deeper level. Most recently, she co-wrote and was the cinematographer of the short film Were You Gay in High School? which was an official selection of many film festivals during the 2020 circuit including Outfest, Frameline44, and Bentonville Film Festival. In her spare time, she co-hosts the podcast Morning Wood (a show about all of Elijah Wood’s favorite things, but not at all, really) and collects hobbies such as playing guitar, woodworking, and beating you at Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2. She has never ridden a bicycle for longer than two hours, but finds comfort in the fact that she will be in the company of so many knowledgeable and compassionate women throughout this journey.