Hazel Barton

Loper Endowed Professor of Geological Sciences

Dr. Barton’s research is geared toward understanding microbial interactions and processes in cave environments and has published over 100 articles and 3 patents on this work, along with co-editing two books. Her work has been funded by the NSF, NIH, DARPA, and NASA, and featured in a variety of magazines, including Sports Illustrated and Forbes, NPR and BBC Radio, numerous documentaries and in the IMAX movie Journey into Amazing Caves. Dr. Barton is also an avid cave explorer and a recipient of the Lew Bicking Award for cave exploration and numerous awards for cave cartography. Dr. Barton is a Fellow of the National Speleological Society (NSS) and a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences. She is the recipient of a NSF CAREER Award, the NSS Science Award, the Alice C. Evans Award for the advancement of Women in Science, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.