Barney Peterson has been a teacher for 19 years and is currently a 4th grade teacher at James Monroe Elementary in Everett Washington. She currently teaches students in an applied learning program in which students use skills and knowledge from core areas to carry out projects in environmental science. In addition to studying native plants, each year, her students raise Coho salmon and maintain a webcam on their tank . Ms. Peterson is a National Board Certified Teacher, has been a Teacher at Sea and a Teacher in the Air with NOAA, and, in 2006, received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching. Her interest in paleoclimatology and the International Polar Year is what led her to participate in PolarTREC.