Dr. Hazel A. Barton

I’ve always had a fascination with caves, since I was quite young. I was very lucky to have been introduced to cave exploration by a high school teacher, and then continued these explorations as a member of the caving community in the US.

When I got my PhD, the sciences were very much siloed – if you were a biologist, you studied biology, the same for chemistry and geology – anything outside of your immediate discipline was considered a distraction from the ‘important’ work. Luckily, timing and a wonderful advisor were able to dispel this notion, enabling me to build a research lab that uses tools in molecular microbiology, physiology, materials chemistry and geoscience. In doing so, we are able to ask unique questions about the evolution and significance of microbes in cave environments.