She attributes her initial interest in geomicrobiology to Dr Tony Eggleton who drew her attention to processes at the earth's surface, mineral weathering and the regolith.

[8] Banfield graduated with a PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Johns Hopkins University for high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) studies of metamorphic reactions supervised by David R.

Her research as of 2021 spans field sites in Northern California to Australia and covers subjects at the intersection of microbiology and geosciences, including genome-resolved metagenomics, genome editing tool development, astrobiology and microbial carbon capture.

In fact, this supergroup and other lineages...clearly comprise the majority of life’s current diversity.Banfield has made significant contributions to understanding how microorganisms interact with minerals.

[24] Banfield's research has expanded to include innovative approaches for editing microbial communities, with applications in human health and climate change mitigation.

Their work combines genome-resolved metagenomics with CRISPR genome editing to enable targeted modifications of specific genes in complex microbial communities.