Marcia Barton
National Science Foundation
Directorate for Geosciences, GEO Education and Diversity Program
New Mexico, High school science
Marcia Barton has been involved in formal and informal education focusing on environmental issues for over 30 years. She spent the past 13 years as a high school science teacher in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Barton most recently taught Environmental Science and AP Environmental Science; she has also taught Botany, Biology and Chemistry. Early in her career, Barton worked as the recycling education outreach coordinator for the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor, went on to learn organic farming, and co-founded the Community Farm of Ann Arbor. Barton has taught apprentices and adult education courses in organic agriculture.
Barton holds a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources from the University of Michigan, completed a two-year training in biodynamic organic agriculture in Pennsylvania, earned a post-baccalaureate teaching certification from the University of New Mexico, holds a Master of Science Teaching from New Mexico Tech University. In 2010, she achieved National Board Teaching Certification in Environmental Science. A recipient of the 2010 Fulbright US-Japan Teacher Exchange on Education for Sustainable Development, Barton also participated in the Toyota International Teacher Program to the Galapagos Islands in 2008. She is currently working with the core design team to form the Academy for Sustainability at Santa Fe High School.
The Toyota trip to the Galapagos Islands and the Fulbright trip to Japan immeasurably strengthened Barton’s commitment to education about the environment and sustainability. Her experiences reinforced for her the urgency and appropriateness of incorporating education about sustainability into all curricula. “I would like to contribute to the conversation about education as it relates to climate literacy, education for sustainability, and the changing demographics of our students. I feel strongly that our students will be facing unprecedented challenges due to climate change. We need to design curricula that can reach students from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds to deal with the world they are coming into.”
Marcia is an urban beekeeper and gardener, bicyclist, and hiker, and loves anything that will take her outdoors.
Barton is serving her Fellowship at the National Science Foundation, Geosciences Directorate, GEO Education and Diversity Program.