Text Box: Welcome to the WebPages of Hazel A. Barton

Text Box: ‘The will to do, the soul to dare’ - Sir Walter Scott

Text Box: Welcome to the WebPages of Hazel A. Barton

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Text Box: Personal History

Text Box: I grew up in Bristol, England. It's a fairly large city in England, although we lived in a suburb that used to be a village (Brislington Village). It still had that village-type mentality - everyone knew each other and were generally friendly. At the back of our house was an abandoned warehouse and small wood, through which a stream flowed. It was great - I spent every second of my summers out playing there, getting dirty, climbing trees, getting in to trouble (catching my hair on fire). It was great. At a very early age I was fascinated with science, particularly biology. Apparently when I was really young, I used to walk behind my mum as she dug the garden, and eat the exposed earthworms. I guess I just wanted to see what was on the inside. My grandfather propagated that interest in science, buying me books on the subject. When  I took my first formal science class, my teacher was a man named Martin Upson at Brislington Comprehensive School, who somehow connected my young, enthusiastic, but somewhat distracted mind, to science. It was the first time I was introduced to the idea of an environment; where creatures live and rely on each other to maintain a balanced ecosystem. My project was to go to a nearby pond, fish out a pot of goo, bring it back to the classroom and look at it under the microscope. We then wrote a long report about the animals that lived in the pond, how they interacted with each other and with the ecosystem. I included drawings of the creatures I saw, their scientific names and a description of their lifestyle. In the evenings I would diligently color in the drawings from class. I was hooked. At 11 years old I was a fledgling scientist. A passion that has remained the driving force of my life ever since. I can't say my interest in caving began as naturally. I don't think I'd ever considered entering a 'hole in the ground' until my first caving trip at 14. Finally when I was 16, once again, it was a gifted teacher at Brislington School, Jim Moon, that made caving come alive for me. Initially my interest was just going caving, the excitement of finding ways to negotiate and survive in this totally alien environment. As I spent more of my free time caving, my inquisitive streak took over and my interest evolved into cave exploration and mapping. Soon caving became a passion as intense as that of science. I continued to cave through college, although I did put my studies first when it came to caving. However, as my undergraduate degree started to come to a close, I once again became passionate about caving. When I graduated, with a First Class Honors degree in Applied Biological Sciences from the University of the West of England, I decided to pursue my Ph.D. in Colorado. I wanted to work with Dr. Michael Vasil on iron-regulation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. However, I thought my move to Colorado would be a severe set-back in my caving career; Colorado is predominantly granite, and I had little hope of finding any caves or cavers - I was wrong. Colorado is one of the most active caving States in America. The Colorado Grotto, the main club in Denver, had over 400 members when I joined (I arrived in Denver on Tuesday evening and was attending the caving club meeting on Thursday evening!). And boy, are those folks active. Even with a graduate career, I managed to find caving trips almost every weekend. Within a few years I was made the Chair of the Grotto, then of the whole Rocky Mountain Region of the National Speleological Society (NSS). Eventually I was even elected to the Board of Governors of the NSS. Of course, after obtaining my Ph.D., my science career continued to also blossom.  I spent two years working in the Department of Surgery at the Health Sciences Center teaching what I knew about molecular biology to the surgeons - and man, those folks were smart, hard working people (lab meetings would start at 6 AM and last for about 4 hours!). Then I got my dream job, to work for Dr. Norman Pace on environmental microbiology and ecology.  Then I moved to Utah and began working for once of the best microbial geneticists, Dr. John Roth.  Subsequently I followed Dr. Roth out to the University of California at Davis, which I loved.  Now, once again, I have my dream job.  With my own research lab, I can combine my love of research, caves, caving and teaching in my own lab.  A friend of mine was talking to one of my undergraduate research students about careers and asked him “Don’t ask what you want to be, ask what do you want to do?”  I think this is critical to a career in science - it’s not a straight path we follow, but we follow our interests.  My own training was in medical microbiology and molecular genetics, followed by microbial ecology and finally microbial physiology.  Combined, that training (although not a classical path) allows me to study what truly interests me.  For me at least, when you find something to do that you love, work is never a chore - you become driven to ask questions and find answers.  Science is as much about exploration and being inquisitive as being a caver. I think it’s a rare privilege to be able to be a research scientist and hopefully, I can share some of that excitement with others through some of the television projects I am involved in. 

Text Box: Ashland Endowed Professor of Integrative Science Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Department of Biological Sciences Northern Kentucky University

Text Box: Hazel A. Barton, Ph.D.

Text Box: Hazel, after a very long, very muddy caving trip in Wales.

Text Box:  "Well behaved women rarely make history"                                                           Laurel Thatcher Ulrich