Yadira Ibarra

Yadira Ibarra is an Associate Professor in the School of the Environment at San Francisco State University. Her research focuses on the co-evolution of life and Earth's surface environments, with expertise in carbonate sedimentology, geobiology, and microbial carbonate systems. She employs field, petrographic, and geochemical methods to study environmental change recorded in sedimentary rocks, particularly fluvial and lacustrine microbialites.

Education: B.A. Geology-Biology from Brown University; Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from the University of Southern California. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses including 'Sedimentology & Stratigraphy' and 'Research Methods in Geosciences.'

Research interests include microbial carbonate formation, spring deposits (travertine/tufa), and paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Her work often addresses astrobiological questions and the role of microbial processes in sedimentary systems. Recent studies investigate Holocene wet events via fluvial tufa deposits and the End-Triassic Mass Extinction through carbonate records.

Publications span over a decade, with recent emphasis on microbialite textures, biosignature detection, and climate-ecosystem interactions. She collaborates widely, contributing to astrobiology initiatives and geobiological frameworks for planetary science.

Lab and fieldwork focuses on California's spring systems and ancient carbonate successions (e.g., Ordovician Bighorn Dolomite, Jurassic Nevada deposits). Her research bridges geological timescales, linking microbial processes to global environmental changes.