Patricia A. Beddows

Patricia A. Beddows is an Associate Professor of Instruction and Assistant Chair in the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences at Northwestern University, affiliated with the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences. She directs the Environmental Sciences Program and specializes in karst hydrogeology, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, and education innovation. Her research focuses on cave systems in the Yucatán Peninsula, integrating fieldwork with instrumentation development.

• Education:
  • Ph.D., University of Bristol (2004)
  • M.Sc., McMaster University (1999)
  • B.A., McMaster University (1995)

Research Interests: Beddows studies karst hydrogeology, speleothems as climate proxies, and groundwater contamination. She develops open-source instrumentation for underwater monitoring and promotes problem-based learning (PBL). Her fieldwork includes interdisciplinary projects in Maya archaeological sites and coastal environmental studies.

Articles Trends: Recent work explores microbial diversity in aquifers, trace elements in drip water, and coastal landscape evolution. Her publications emphasize environmental monitoring, paleoclimatic records, and geoarchaeological applications.

• Awards:
  • 2023 NU Phi Beta Kappa Advocacy Award
  • 2021 Women Divers Hall of Fame
  • 2015 Teaching Award from WCAS

Advising & Grants: Beddows mentors over 30 students in field research and independent study. She leads NSF-funded projects on cave hydrology and collaborates with international teams on Maya coastal reconstructions.

Labs/Teams: Coordinates the Yucatán Field Trip, a flagship experiential program, and develops the Cave Pearl Project for submersible data logging systems. Active in NOAA and UNESCO initiatives on underwater heritage conservation.