Rate My Professor Julie Bartley

Julie Bartley is Professor and Chair of the Department of Environment, Geography, and Earth Sciences at Gustavus Adolphus College. She previously served as Associate Provost and Dean of Sciences and Education. Her research examines the interactions between early life and its environment, focusing on the structures that microbial communities built in the ancient oceans and the ways these communities become preserved as fossils. She investigates morphology-environment relationships in stromatolites and microbialites from a ~475-million-year-old geologic unit exposed in eastern Minnesota and Wisconsin. This work involves fieldwork followed by laboratory analyses such as microscopy, electron microscopy, and geochemistry. Bartley mentors undergraduate students in research through programs like FYRE and SEAR, continuing projects started in previous summers.

Bartley teaches introductory courses in geology and environmental earth sciences, as well as upper-level courses in sedimentary geology, geologic history, and paleontology. Her courses blend in-class explorations, discussions, projects, and lectures, with opportunities for individual and team assignments in inclusive, active classrooms. Fieldwork is incorporated whenever possible to observe geology in natural settings. She has contributed to geoscience education as a participant and reviewer in programs like InTeGrate and On the Cutting Edge, integrating climate science across the liberal arts curriculum at Gustavus Adolphus College with NSF support. Bartley presented a poster on this initiative at the American Geophysical Union meeting titled “Climate science across the liberal arts curriculum at Gustavus Adolphus College.” She co-authored papers published in journals including The Depositional Record and Geobiology. In 2020, Bartley received the Gustavus Faculty Service Award, the highest accolade for distinguished service activities, presented at Founder’s Day. She has facilitated workshops for the National Association of Geoscience Teachers and participated in Earth Educators Rendezvous.