Barbara C.S. Hansen

Institute of Technology, May 4, 2001

Barbara C.S. Hansen received her master's degree from the Botany Department at the University of Minnesota in 1961. She is recognized as an international expert in the reconstruction of vegetation communities in the tropics and high latitudes using palynological techniques. This research has lead to fundamental understandings of the stability of tropical rain forests, the evolution of climate change in continental interiors, and the impact of relatively abrupt climatic changes in Earth history on vegetation communities. Her work with the immense pollen flora of the tropics is pioneering. She has made significant contributions to the understanding of global climate change.