Barbara Carrapa

I am a Professor of Geosciences at the University of Arizona. I am interested in the interactions between tectonic processes and climate in shaping Earth's surface and paleoenvironments. I specialize in sedimentary geology, basin analysis, tectonics and thermochronology. I have worked extensively in the Andes, Pamir, Alps, Tibet, Nepal and Western North America. Some of the fundamental questions I seek to answer are: how does climate, over millions of years, affect erosion, deposition and paleoecology-paleobiology? How does tectonics interact with climate to form the highest topography on Earth? How are deep Earth's processes affecting crustal evolution? I am also interested in technique development and applications including multi dating and geochemistry of accessory minerals such as apatite.

2016-Present: Full Professor, University of Arizona
2018-2023: Department Head of Geosciences, University of Arizona
2014-2015: Guest Professor, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
2010-2016: Associate Professor, University of Arizona
2010-Present: Adjunct to Full Professor, University of Wyoming
2007-2010: Assistant Professor, University of Wyoming
2005-2007: Post-doctoral Research Fellow (DFG: German Research Foundation), Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Potsdam, Germany
2003-2005: Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow, Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Potsdam, Germany
2003: Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Earth Science Department, Vrije University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Research Interests:

I study the interactions between tectonic processes, surface erosion and climate in shaping Earth’s greatest topography. I specialize in sedimentary geology, thermochronology, and tectonics. I have worked extensively in the Andes, Pamir, Alps, Tibet, Himalaya and North American Cordillera. Some of the fundamental questions I seek to answer are: how do climate and tectonics affect erosion, paleodepositional environments and paleoecology-paleobiology over millions of years? How do deep (lithospheric and mantle scale) Earth's processes affect crustal and surface evolution? I am also interested in technique development including multi-dating and geochemistry of accessory minerals.

Awards and Recognitions:

• 2022: W.R. Dickinson Medal from the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM)
• 2022: Arizona Leadership Institute graduate and fellow
• 2017: Geological Society of America (GSA) Fellow
• 2015: Outstanding faculty award, University of Arizona, Dept. of Geosciences
• 2014-2015: Guest Professor ETH, Zürich, Switzerland
• 2006: Sofja Kovalevskaja Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Berlin, Germany
• 2003-2005: Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Research Fellow, Berlin, Germany