Joel Bartsch

Joel A. Bartsch, president and CEO of the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS), maintains a professional and personal interest in science, gems, and mineralogy. This passion has driven his career for more than 30 years, beginning with his role as curatorial assistant and assistant to the director at the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum. Joel Bartsch joined the institution during his second year at the Colorado School of Mines and continued until his graduation three years later.

From there, Joel Bartsch pursued natural and Earth science roles as museum staff at HMNS and later, curator of Earth sciences at the Lyman House Memorial Museum in Hilo, Hawaii. During the two years he spent at the latter, he doubled the museum’s membership base and implemented collection management policies. He also briefly served at the California State Mining & Mineral Museum in Mariposa as curator and director before returning to the HMNS in the position of curator and director of Earth sciences. He was elevated to his current post in 2004.

Throughout his career, Joel A. Bartsch’s interest in mineralogy and science has earned him several awards and honors in addition to his practical experience. He was named a Bay Foundation Scholar at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History in 1990 and was later called to California’s Museum Standards Committee. Several years later, Mr. Bartsch received an alumni award from Concordia University in recognition of his contributions in science and a Carnegie Medal for his contributions to mineralogy.