She joined the CSU faculty in 2013 after obtaining dual B.S. degrees (Honors) in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Minnesota, obtaining her Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Washington, and spending a year as a NOAA Climate & Global Change Fellow at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Professor Barnes' research is focused on large scale atmospheric variability and relies on data from observations as well as models of varying complexity. Topics of interest include jet-stream dynamics, subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) prediction of extreme weather events (she is currently Task Force Lead for the NOAA MAPP Subseasonal-to-Seasonal (S2S) Prediction Task Force), and data science methods for climate research (e.g. machine learning, causal discovery). She teaches graduate courses on fundamental atmospheric dynamics and data science and statistical analysis methods.