Hazel A. Barton received her BSc in Applied Biological Science at the University of the West of England and her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. She is also an avid caver, having explored caves on six continents, is a past director of the National Speleological Society (NSS), the Quintana Roo Speleological Survey, and an award-winning cave cartographer. Dr. Barton is currently a Professor of Biology and Geoscience at the University of Akron, and is Director of the Integrated Bioscience PhD Program. Her research lab is geared toward understanding microbial interactions and adaptations to starvation in cave environments, which has been funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), US National Institutes of Health, and the US National Park Service. Dr. Barton also investigates the role the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans plays in the White-nose Syndrome epidemic in bats, which has been funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Dr. Barton’s research has been featured in numerous magazines and on television, and she also appeared in the IMAX movie Journey into Amazing Caves. Dr. Barton is currently a Fellow of the National Speleological Society, a Kavli Fellow of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, Chair of the Committee on the Status of Women in Microbiology for the American Society for Microbiology, and the recipient of an NSF CAREER Award.
