Hazel Barton

Dr. Hazel A. Barton is an English born microbiologist, geologist and cave diving explorer, interested in extremophile microorganisms. She is a Professor and Director of the Integrated Bioscience Program at the University of Akron and has appeared in several documentaries. Early life Hazel Barton grew up in Bristol, England and first experienced caving through an Outward Bound course when she was 16, which was the beginning of her life-long involvement with caving. Career She moved to the United States six years after she started caving as a hobby and in the early 1990s studied for her PhD at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, in Boulder, Colorado undertaking research into drug resistant tuberculosis. After graduating, she carried out postdoctoral research with Norman R. Pace, who was also keen on caving. She became increasingly disinterested in medical microbiology and he encouraged her to consider applying modern microbiological technology, especially culture independent methods, to the microbiology of caves. This was the start of her independent research career. She was appointed the Ashland Endowed Professor of Integrative Science and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Kentucky University in 2003 and is currently a Professor and Director of the Integrated Bioscience Program at the University of Akron Barton studies the microbiome of caves, especially adaptations to nutrient-limitation. She considers that the microbes can be involved in the formation of caves. She is also interested in the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the causative agent of White-nose Syndrome in bats. These take advantage of her expertise in caving and have led her to caves in every continent, including Antarctica.