Jennifer Murdock

Geographic Information Scientist MsGIS, Instructor

she/her

Jennifer (Jenn) is a Geographic Information Scientist and avid mountaineer who is passionate about protecting mountain landscapes and the resources they provide. She loves to travel and has lived in or visited many places across the US as well as in New Zealand, Baja California, Nicaragua and Europe but she always returns home to Colorado. She is greatly interested in studying human-environment interactions and using GIS tools to study diverse topics in environmental sciences including:

• Impacts of upstream water uses on downstream resources especially in developing regions;

• Recreating climate conditions for human populations that lived in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado 500 to 1500 years ago;

• Building pre-historic topographic maps of Colorado from more than 540 million years ago, when evidence of the first signs of life on earth appear in rock formations;

• Using tree rings to study how snowpack and climate and weather patterns affect available water resources; and,

• Revegetation patterns after wildfires in Colorado landscapes;

Jenn is also passionate about teaching and fostering experiential learning environments. She has 8+ teaching experience working with students of all ages. She spent 4 years coaching climbing for the Vail Athletic Club and has taught environmental science, art, and math topics for more than 6 years. Through her research and teachings, she hopes to raise awareness of our vital connection to the natural environment and advance conservation efforts, especially across Colorado’s landscape.

Girls on Rock Instructor - 2023