Amazing Women with Rock-Solid Careers

Explorers, Geologists, Educators & Jewelry Makers...

- SUE EYRE

Scientific careers were not always an option for women. A few brave women paved the way for today's young women to choose any career-scientific, artistic and more.

As we celebrate the accomplishments of women in March's Women's History Month, let's take a closer look at four, very different, talented women-one is an archaeologist, geologist, explorer and business owner; another, an award-winning, self-taught, wire-wrapping artist; another, was an educator, professional geologist and philanthropist and the fourth, a student, the professor's legacy.

THE ARCHAEOLOGIST

In September 1987, National Geographic Magazine published an article about jade that told the story of a man and his wife who discovered the source of Mayan jade in the jungles of Guatemala. In March 2023 this author spent several hours with the amazing woman featured in that article while visiting Jade Maya Factory in Antigua, Guatemala.

The story of Mary Lou Ridinger and her late husband, Jay lies on the Mayan-Mesoamerican path where archaeology and geology merge. They are credited with finding several sources of Guatemalan jade of various colors as well as re-establishing the Guatemalan jade carving industry.

Born in Texas, Mary Lou is an American ex-pat, with a bachelor's degree in Latin American studies from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a master's in archaeology from the University of the Americans in Mexico City. She continues to run the Jade Maya Factory in Antigua, Guatemala, founded with her late husband in 1974.