About the Project
The Bearded Lady Project: Challenging the Face of Science’s mission is twofold. First, to celebrate the inspirational and adventurous women who choose to dedicate their lives in the search of clues to the history of life on earth. And second, to educate the public on the inequities and prejudices that exist in the field of science, with special emphasis on the geosciences.
In 2014 Dr. Ellen Currano and Lexi Jamieson Marsh met for dinner. Both were frustrated with the way they were treated within their professions; both women working in a traditionally male dominated fields. To lighten the mood, Ellen suggested putting a fake beard on her face as a way to “finally be able to do her job” and fit the mould. To her surprise, Lexi took that suggestion seriously and ran with it. The next morning, the two joined forces, collaborating art and science to begin The Bearded Lady Project: Challenging the Face of Science.
This project is ever expanding. What started out as a simple concept for a five minute video commentary bloomed into a documentary short film. From there The Bearded Lady Project has continued to grow with interest, support and love from these underrepresented scientists. In 2019 we have created feature length live-action documentary and a touring fine art portrait exhibition. We hope our films and portrait series will inspire young women to pursue a career in the geosciences (or the field of their choosing, not society’s).
In an effort to do all that we can, both film and portrait series have dedicated their proceeds to a scholarship fund to support future female paleontologists. You can learn more about the Currano Scholarship Fund by visiting paleosoc.org.
We Owe Big Thanks To:
- The National Science Foundation for Dr. Ellen Currano’s CAREER Grant,
- The Paleontological Society, PS Outreach and Education Grant,
- The University of Exeter, UK,
- The Puffin Foundation,
- many of our family members: Ljuba & Brian Marsh, Peter Jamieson, John & Diane Currano, Jim Vance, and Louis DeBiasio (we couldn’t have gotten this started without you!),
- and many generous friends, colleagues, and strangers that have donated to the project. We appreciate all of it!
