Barko earned her bachelor’s degree from Heidelberg College with a double major in biology and chemistry prior to completing a doctorate in the chemistry department at Case Western Reserve University. Her dissertation work was focused on the pre-steady state kinetic characterization of lon protease in the lab of Dr. Irene Lee. Before coming to Baldwin Wallace in 2007 she completed a postdoctoral experience in Dr. Anthony Berdis’ lab in the pharmacology department at Case Western Reserve University where she contributed to a project that involved studying non-natural nucleoside analogs for their potential use as cancer therapeutics.