CHESTERTOWN, MD—World-renowned microbiologist Hazel Barton will deliver a free public lecture on “Bats in Peril: The Effects of White Nose Syndrome on North American Bat Populations” when she visits Washington College on Wednesday evening, Feb. 27. The lecture will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Litrenta Lecture Hall in the Toll Science Center on the College campus, 300 Washington Avenue. A reception will follow in the McLain Atrium.

Barton will discuss the White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) epidemic affecting hibernating bats across North America. Named for the white fungus that appears on the noses of affected bats, the syndrome was discovered in 2006 and has since swept across North America, causing the deaths of more than five million hibernating bats.

Barton holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology and has studied WNS in caves throughout North America and has been featured in articles in a range of publications, including Wired, Forbes, and National Geographic. She has served as an Associate Professor at University of Akron and at Northern Kentucky University, where she taught one of Popular Mechanics’ “Top Ten Best Courses” in the United States.        

This event is sponsored by the Washington College Center for Environment & Society. For more information about Dr. Hazel Barton and White Nose Syndrome, please visit www.cavescience.com.