In 2020 Barnard was awarded a $7 million National Science Foundation grant to set up a Critical Zone Observatory at the University of Colorado Boulder.

[5] As a graduate student, Barnard was selected to take part in the national Minorities Striving and Pursuing Higher Degrees of Success in Earth System Science (MS PHDs) programme, which supported her to attend the American Geophysical Union annual conference.

[3] In 2009 Barnard was made an National Science Foundation Minority Postdoctoral Fellow, allowing her to join the University of Wyoming to study water loss from forest vegetation.

[10] In 2020 Barnard was awarded a $7 million National Science Foundation grant to establish the University of Colorado Boulder Critical Zone Observatory.

[12] A network of so-called PARduinos can be assembled across ground, providing constant measurements of PAR and allowing for Barnard and co-workers to model tree growth.