Scientific and Historical Research

My scientific research centers around the paleoecology of the terrestrial Eocene-Oligocene boundary in North America, specifically how changing climate affected plant and animal communities. I have also done some work with stable isotopes and paleorelief in the latest Eocene. You can continue reading to find out more about my research and publications, or download my CV (PDF).

Historically, I am interested in the life of T.D.A. Cockerell (1866-1948), a naturalist and professor at the University of Colorado. I am particularly interested in his family and scientific associations (including Alice Eastwood), as well as his time spent as curator of the Palmer Hall Museum at Colorado College and his paleontological work at Florissant.

Eocene-Oligocene Climate Change: Impact on Terrestrial Assemblages From the Rocky Mountains

Advisor: Professor Dena M. Smith, Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology, University of Colorado Museum of Natural History

My M.S. thesis work focuses primarily on three Tertiary Rocky Mountain floras spanning the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. I am examining both macrofossils and pollen in an attempt to understand how global cooling affected plant ecology in this region, and placing them into context with the geological and ecological picture.

Paleoecology of Oligocene Mammals of the Brule Formation, White River Group, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Senior Researcher: Dr. Richard K. Stucky, Curator of Paleoecology and Evolution, Denver Museum of Nature & Science

This project, still in progress, examines the ecological distribution of mammals in microsites of the Brule Formation, White River Group, South Dakota.

We presented results of the first stage (generic distribution by locality) at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Annual Meeting, October 2007 (Barton and Stucky 2007).

Stable Isotope Paleorelief Mapping of the Late Eocene Rocky Mountain Region

Advisor: Professor Henry Fricke, Professor of Geology, Colorado College

My undergraduate research project, this involved stable isotope analysis of mammal tooth enamel from Chadronian (latest Eocene) localities in the Rocky Mountain region of North America (Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Montana). Oxygen isotope ratios in surface water are controlled largely by rain, and those ratios change as heavier isotopes “rain out” over mountains. As the surface water is consumed by mammals and its isotopes are incoporated into tooth enamel, fractionation occurs.

Since tooth enamel is relatively unaltered by diagenesis, it provides a good proxy for paleorelief.

Results of the first phase of research were presented at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, October 23, 2006 (Barton and Fricke 2006).

T.D.A. Cockerell (1866-1948)

I’ve written several popular articles dealing with Cockerell, and am currently collecting oral histories from anyone who knew him. If you are interested in contributing to this oral history project (copies will be donated to the Archives at the University of Colorado Libraries if requested), please contact me at mbarton@rosettastones.net.

  • Richard Beidleman on T.D.A. Cockerell (interview), Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds Newsletter, Fall 2007
  • Cockerell Centennial Celebrated, Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds Newsletter, Fall 2006
  • T.D.A. Cockerell (1866-1948), Impressions (park newspaper for Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument), Summer 2006

I currently have recorded oral histories from

  • Jean Rodeck (daughter of Hugo Rodeck)

The Colorado College Museum

The Colorado College Museum (also called the Palmer Hall Museum) existed from c. 1881 to 1977, although it was closed for several years prior to final dissolution. It was a one-room natural history museum encompassing archaeology/anthropology, geology, paleontology, and biology, and it changed little from its origins as a Victorian cabinet museum. Colorado College had an ambivalent attitude towards the museum, and interest and support fluctuated wildly over the decades. It is probably best known for student pranks in 1922 and again in the 1970s in which students arranged taxidermied animals from the museum on the campus quad, usually to protest college policies.

Upon dissolution, the museum’s collections and display cabinets were scattered to various institutions, including the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, the Pioneers Museum, the Denver Museum of Natural History (now the Denver Museum of Nature & Science), and the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History. Today, few students on campus know Colorado College ever had a museum.

I find the Colorado College Museum interesting for a variety of reasons:

  • Its lack of support and eventual dissolution is representative of the fate of an increasing number of university museums.
  • Its role in the history of Colorado College is important, but sporadically documented.
  • Records of faculty correspondence show a clear picture of the evolution of attitudes towards museums and museum practices (although few modern practices were implemented due to lack of funding).
  • Many of the museum’s items, particularly the paleontological collection, remained at the college. Few researchers realize that Colorado College still has these collections, which include an extensive collection of fossil mollusks.

Academic Publications

Barton, M.A., and Stucky, R.K. (2007) Diversity of mammalian paleoecological assemblages in the early Oligocene Scenic Member of the Brule Formation, White River Group, Badlands National Park, South Dakota. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 37 (supplement to no. 3), 44A.

Barton, M.A., and Fricke, H.C. (2006) Mapping topographic relief and elevation of the central Rocky Mountain region during the latest Eocene using stable isotope data from mammalian tooth enamel. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 38, 202.

Barton, M.A.; Frakes, B.; Meyer, H.W. (2006) Using a relational geodatabase to manage paleontological resources at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science Bulletin 34, 7.