All Female Crew with The SCA

One of the crew leaders Madison welcomed me and introduced me to the All Female Crew working in Chicago. Kyla, Alicia, Ula, Wah Wah, Maya, and Madison were wielding huge brush cutters and working the clear evasive species in the forest preserve.

SCA has had female-only conservation crews in and around Chicago every year since 2013. I photographed the crew back in 2017 and absolutely was inspired by these women actively learning and doing valuable work on conservation.

These crew are usually between 6-12 women and led by 2 experienced leaders work to maintain hiking trails and control invasive species in city green spaces. They are also challenging misguided notions of gender roles in the often male-dominated world of conservation. One crew member Alicia shared her passion for earning about plants and trees and their role in healing, “I want to study herbology and continue learning about medicine and healing from plants.” Many of the women shared how much they have learned about the natural world from their work with The SCA. They are hard working and inspiring! Thanks ladies!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•