SPECIAL | feature
P.E.O. sister Isabel Barton, CV, Tucson, Arizona, was recently awarded a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER grant for $500,000. This grant will be administered by the University of Arizona, where she is employed as an assistant professor in mining and geological engineering, focusing on geometallurgy. She is only the second female member in the department’s 130 year history. The grant, which commenced in June, will allow Isabel to continue her research as well as develop a series of short videos, explaining resource concepts to non-scientists.
Isabel was “thrilled and humbled” to receive a P.E.O. Scholar Award
Little do most of us realize how much of our modern lives are made possible by mineral resources. Isabel reminds us, “Every time we turn on a lightbulb, type something into a computer or drive to the grocery store, we’re unconsciously relying on a vast amount of metals, fuels and industrial minerals that have to come out of the ground and be processed into usable form. They are getting harder to acquire as 6,000 years of human societies mining and using nonrenewable resources has depleted the supply noticeably.” How did Isabel reach this stage in her life? Isabel, who was homeschooled and had no TV in her house, became an avid reader at a young age. She says, “I read everything I could get my hands on. The only books I remember not liking were the ones I should be reading for school.” That changed in 8th grade with a science textbook which covered geology and ignited her love for that field. She went on to attend a collegiate high school and included several geology courses among her other requirements. She soon realized she was planning a career “on the rocks.” In her senior year, Isabel was awarded a National Merit Scholarship and chose to begin her college career at the University of Oklahoma where “there were nice rocks in the vicinity, it was a comfortable distance away and it had a good geology program.” She began her studies in the petroleum industry but soon switched to a more rock- oriented field, the study of the geology of ore deposits. Proceeding on to graduate school at the University of
Arizona, Isabel intended to earn her Master of Science but when a chance came to do research at a copper- cobalt deposit in central Africa, she opted to do that instead. In Africa, she saw some of the most beautiful rocks she had ever seen and decided to pursue a Ph.D. in geology at the same mining camp site. Isabel began to realize how lucky she had been when another coincidence in 2013 came her way. She was told by a colleague that P.E.O. Chapter CV in Tucson, Arizona, was looking for a Ph.D. student to nominate for the P.E.O. Scholar Award. She interviewed with CV member Jane Hall, the chapter nominated her and ultimately, she was selected as a recipient. Isabel says, “I was thrilled and humbled.” P.E.O. was new to Isabel. She began to spend more time with Chapter CV and realized she was missing something in her life. In 2014 she became a member of the Sisterhood and says, “It’s one of the smarter decisions on my track record. Even though I can’t participate
as actively as I would like, due to the demands of my job, being a P.E.O. sister is important to me for the support and unity that it represents as well as the good that the members do.”
Chapter CV sisters Mary Feldsien, Isabel Barton, Linda Placek, Leanne Adams
In 2014 Isabel married Mark Barton, also a geology professor, and they honeymooned in southern Utah where they became acquainted with the Colorado Plateau, which, as the years went on, played a significant role in shaping Isabel’s career path. Isabel hopes that her research “...will be a part of the technology and knowledge needed to keep supplying our society with the resources that we depend on. We can’t keep on ignoring the value of the earth’s resources.”
Isabel traveled to central Africa to do research at a copper-cobalt deposit
27
January–February 2022 | THE P.E.O. RECORD
WWW.PEOINTERNATIONAL.ORG
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease