Barbara Canales was appointed to the Oversight Committee by Speaker Joe Straus on April 12, 2010.  Ms. Canales was born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is the president of Canales Exploration LLC, an oil and gas exploration company she founded in 2004 that is involved with natural gas development in south Texas.  In honor of her daughter who is a cancer survivor, Ms. Canales founded the Ready or Not Foundation, a charitable organization that raises research dollars for better treatments and a cure for pediatric brain cancer.  Ms. Canales is a member of the University of Texas at Austin College of Engineering Advisory Board and recently served on the Driscoll Children's Hospital Foundation Board and the University of Texas Marine Science Advisory Board. She has also volunteered with the Ronald McDonald House over the past four years. Recently, she received the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Leadership Award.

She graduated from Ray High School in Corpus Christi as valedictorian, earning a full academic scholarship to the University of Texas at Austin. Ms. Canales received her Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering in 1989. In 1992, she received her Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Houston. After living in Houston, Texas, for ten years, Ms. Canales moved back to her hometown of Corpus Christi, Texas. From 1992 to 2004, Ms. Canales was a co-owner of BNP Petroleum Corp., an independent oil and gas exploration and production company involved with natural gas development in south Texas.