Dr. Hazel A. Barton, a nationally known cave cartographer and explorer, will speak at Berea College on Thursday, Oct. 22.  The 3 p.m. program titled “Amazing Caves:  Amazing Microbes” is scheduled in Phelps Stokes Auditorium.  The program is the annual Berea College Science Lecture and is free and open to the public.

Past director of the National Speleological Society and award-winning cave cartographer, Barton is an active cave explorer whose research has been featured in many scientific journals and in publications such as “National Geographic Explorer” and “Outside” as well as on National Public Radio, BBC Radio and television shows “Animal Planet” and in the IMAX movie “Journey into Amazing Caves.”  Barton is currently the Ashland Endowed Professor of Integrative Science and Professor of Biological Sciences at Northern Kentucky University (NKU). 

Barton studies how microbes can live in extremely harsh places, such as caves, with very few nutrients. This may give clues about how to search for life on the planet Mars. She's also looking for microbes that produce antibiotics that might help treat human illnesses. Barton, originally from Bristol, England, is also considered one of the top cave explorers and mappers in the United States.

For more, visit Barton’s web pages at www.cavescience.com
For a complete list of Berea College Convocations and other Berea College events, visit BCnow and www.berea.edu/convocations