STEM Story: Natasha Barrett – A Geologist And An Isotope Geochemist

Natasha is a geologist, high-temperature isotope geochemist, and 2020 National Geographic Explorer who is researching the composition and evolution of Earth’s mantle lithosphere. Natasha holds a BSc in chemistry and geology, and MSc in geology from The University of Western Australia.

She is currently a PhD Candidate at the University of Alberta specializing in using trace elements and osmium isotopes to track melt processes in the mantle lithosphere beneath the volcanic southwest Pacific Islands. She is excited to be starting a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Copenhagen later this year where she will be conducting fieldwork in Greenland.

During high school and university, Natasha always enjoyed chemistry. The geology part came later when she decided that becoming a geochemist was the perfect way to combine her passions for laboratory research and remote fieldwork.

Natasha has also completed research internships with Australia’s national science agency (CSIRO), and the Lunar and Planetary Science Institute through NASA’s Solar System Exploration Virtual Research Institute (SSERVI). Seeing the Apollo sample collection at NASA’s Johnson Space Center and being directly involved in the geological objectives for upcoming lunar missions has been a recent highlight for Natasha.