Antarctica Direct: Fly the Drake Passage

Paul Barber is a professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCLA. He studied Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Music at his home town University of Arizona, and earned a PhD UC Berkeley in 1998 where he studied hyaena behavior and the evolution of frogs. Following 3 years at Harvard as postdoctoral scholar, he joined the faculty at Boston University in 2002, moving to UCLA in 2008. Paul’s research integrates genetics, genomics, ecology, and oceanography to understand the evolution of marine biodiversity, and he uses this information to promote marine conservation. Current projects include using genomic data to support marine fisheries in California, and using forensic environmental genetic techniques to monitor changes in the marine ecosystems of Mo’orea and underwater cave ecosystems in Mexico. The majority of his research is done in the context of education programs that build and expand the U.S. marine science workforce. Paul’s integration of research and education and passion for mentoring in science has been recognized by numerous awards, including two awards from the President of the United States (the 2004 Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering and the 2023 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math and Engineering Mentoring), the UCLA Distinguished Teaching award, the UCLA Gold Shield Prize, the SACNAS Distinguished Student Mentor Award, and the Western Society of Naturalists “Naturalist of the Year”. In 2017 he was named an HHMI Professor and in 2021 he was elected to the California Academy of Sciences.