Research Statement:

Dr. Barnes’ current research interests focus on three broad areas: Paleozoic paleontology, stratigraphy, conodont paleobiology/paleoecology, and biological and chemical events in ancient oceans; evolution of Cenozoic offshore sedimentary basins; and cabled ocean observatories. The Paleozoic research program is concerned with understanding the nature of the Early Paleozoic world and paleobiological events. Principal tools are conodont micropaleontology, stratigraphy, paleoceanography, paleoclimatology and geochemistry.  Detailed sequential studies of conodont taxonomy, biostratigraphy, paleoecology, paleobiogeography and isotope geochemistry (Sr, Nd) are undertaken for broad regions to give virtually worldwide coverage. A new research program on offshore sedimentary basins is investigating the hydrocarbon potential of BC’s Mesozoic-Cenozoic offshore sedimentary basins, specifically using stratigraphy, foraminiferal and ichthyolith biostratigraphy, and regional thermal maturation patterns. The third research focus deals with cabled ocean observatories. As Project Director (2002- ) of the $62.4 million NEPTUNE Canada project, most of Dr. Barnes' academic time is now spent on the installation of the NEPTUNE Canada facility, which is the northern part of a $250 million facility to deploy 3300 km of powered electro-optic cables on the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate. This will revolutionize the ocean sciences and provide real-time data over a 30-year period (www.neptunecanada.ca and www.neptune.washington.edu).

Publications