October 19, 2024
Cost: $75 ($5 discount for members)
What to Bring: Dress for both indoor and outdoor experiences, including comfortable layered clothing, sturdy shoes, refillable water bottle, hat, and sunglasses. We think the best part about Women in Nature is being outdoors in all weather! Feedback from previous participants has been outstanding regarding the experience of hiking in the rain. Please bring a rain jacket and rain boots if appropriate. We will have a limited number of ponchos to borrow. Some participants bring extra clothing if wet weather is anticipated so they can change into dry clothing after a hike.
Sponsors
Nurture your mind, body, and soul at one of the Nature Center’s longest-running events: Women in Nature.
During this day-long experience participants will hear from speakers sharing nature-inspired messages and stories that are sure to motivate. Partake in two guided hikes on ICNC trails, a complimentary light breakfast and boxed lunch, and special extras like local vendors, social time, and giveaways. Enjoy a day exploring and learning with like-minded people and leave feeling refreshed and connected to nature.
Women in Nature is a gender inclusive and gender affirming event open to all people who self-identify as women and those who identify as non-men. This includes cisgender women, trans women, gender nonconforming people, and nonbinary people.
Guest Speakers
Lindsay Leahy
Lindsay Leahy will offer stories, questions and tools from her new book, Take It All Apart: How to Live, Lead and Work with Intention, with a goal of helping you start to reconnect with yourself and the world around you, restore your deepest intentions and align your life, leadership, and work toward the truest and best version of who you are. In addition to being a newly published author, Lindsay is the creator of the blog Grit, Gratitude, and Grace and the founder and Dream Builder at The Restoration Project, a women-owned coaching and consulting practice that provides experiences, programs, and services to improve organizational health, team and leadership effectiveness and individual well-being.
Erika Billerbeck
Erika Billerbeck has been an Iowa Conservation Officer for the last 26 years. In 2020, the University of Iowa Press published her book, Wildland Sentinel. In Wildland Sentinel, Erika Billerbeck takes readers along for the ride as she and her colleagues sift through poaching investigations, chase down sex offenders in state parks, search for fugitives in wildlife areas, haul drunk boaters to jail, perform body recoveries, and face the chaos that comes with disaster response. Using an introspective personal voice, this narrative nonfiction work weaves stories of Iowa’s natural history with a cast of unforgettable characters. Wildland Sentinel touches on what it means to be a woman working in the male-dominated field of conservation law enforcement.
Heather Rittgers
Heather Rittgers has been a Certified Health Coach since 2016 and is the founder of Whole Health By Heather, LLC. She has taught classes and programs on how to maximize longevity through lifestyle. She will share her perspective on the importance of health after suddenly losing hers to a stroke in 1991. During her talk, entitled You Are the CEO of Your Health, she will give you practical strategies to empower you in your own health journey. In her practice, Heather offers ways to improve your metabolic health, adjust your lifestyle to align with your “genestyle”, and ways to get to the root cause of your health issues.
Schedule of Events
8:00 – 8:30 AM
Check in/social time/breakfast/shop vendors
8:30 – 8:40 AM
Welcome message
8:40 – 9:25 AM
Guest Speaker: Lindsay Leahy
9:35 – 10:20 AM
Hikes/shop the vendors
10:30 – 11:15 AM
Guest Speaker: Heather Rittgers
11:30 – 12:00 PM
Catered lunch, visit vendors
12:05 – 12:50 PM
Guest Speaker: Erika Billerbeck
12:55 – 1:40 PM
Hikes/visit vendors
1:50 – 2:50 PM
Outdoor Yoga/Meditation
3:00 PM
Door prizes and closing comments
