Dr. Luann Becker

Luann Becker is an adjunct professor and associate researcher in geological sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Before coming to UCSB in 2001, she was the faculty of the University of Washington. She received her B.S. in geology at Texas A&M University in 1983, her M.S. in oceanography in 1993 from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, and her Ph.D. in oceanography in 1995, also from Scripps. Following that she was a National Research Council Post-Doctoral Fellow at the NASA/AMES Research Center for two years. In the 1980s she worked as a geochemist and exploration geologist for two major oil companies. She belongs to a number of professional societies and panels including the National Academies of Science Advisory Panel on Astrobiology. She has received several awards including the National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Service Medal in 2002 and the Young Investigators Award from the University of Hawaii in 1997.