Nicholas Hamilton Barton (born 30 August 1955) is a British

evolutionary biologist Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes (natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life for ...

Education

Barton was educated at

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

where he graduated with a first-class degree in Biological Sciences (Cambridge) in 1976 and gained his PhD supervised by Godfrey Hewitt at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

in 1979.

Career

After a brief spell as a lab demonstrator at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, Barton became a Lecturer at the Department of Genetics and Biometry,

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, in 1982. Professor Barton is best known for his work on hybrid zones, often using the toad '' Bombina bombina'' as a study organism, and for extending the mathematical machinery needed to investigate multilocus genetics, a field in which he worked in collaboration with

Michael Turelli Michael Anthony Turelli is an American biologist who is Distinguished Professor of Genetics at the University of California, Davis. His research has focused on issues in quantitative genetics and on the ''Wolbachia'' genus of bacteria. He was el ...

. Research questions he has investigated include: the role of

epistasis Epistasis is a phenomenon in genetics in which the effect of a gene mutation is dependent on the presence or absence of mutations in one or more other genes, respectively termed modifier genes. In other words, the effect of the mutation is dep ...

, the evolution of sex,

speciation Speciation is the evolutionary process by which populations evolve to become distinct species. The biologist Orator F. Cook coined the term in 1906 for cladogenesis, the splitting of lineages, as opposed to anagenesis, phyletic evolution withi ...

, and the limits on the rate of

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

. Barton moved to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...

in 1990, where he is said to have been instrumental in attracting to Edinburgh Brian and

Deborah Charlesworth Deborah Charlesworth (née Maltby; born 1943) is a population geneticist from the UK, notable for her important discoveries in population genetics and evolutionary biology. Her most notable research is in understanding the evolution of recom ...

, with whom he had previously collaborated, thus complementing the university's strong tradition in

quantitative genetics Quantitative genetics deals with phenotypes that vary continuously (such as height or mass)—as opposed to discretely identifiable phenotypes and gene-products (such as eye-colour, or the presence of a particular biochemical). Both branches u ...

and

population genetics Population genetics is a subfield of genetics that deals with genetic differences within and between populations, and is a part of evolutionary biology. Studies in this branch of biology examine such phenomena as adaptation, speciation, and po ...

and helping the University of Edinburgh to continue as one of the most important research institutions in evolutionary genetics worldwide. Barton was made a professor in 1994. In 2008 Barton moved to Klosterneuburg (Austria) where he became the first professor at the

Institute of Science and Technology Austria The Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) is an international research institute in natural and mathematical sciences, located in Maria Gugging, Klosterneuburg, 20 km northwest of the Austrian capital of Vienna. It was establi ...

. In 2007, Barton, along with Derek E.G. Briggs, Jonathan A. Eisen, David B. Goldstein, and Nipam H. Patel, collaborated to create ''Evolution,''Nicholas H. Barton, Derek E. G. Briggs, Jonathan A. Eisen, David B. Goldstein, Nipam H. Patel "Evolution" Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; 1st edition (30 June 2007) an undergraduate textbook which integrates molecular biology, genomics, and human genetics with traditional evolutionary studies.

Awards and honours

*2013

Erwin Schrödinger Prize The Erwin Schrödinger Prize (German: Erwin Schrödinger-Preis) is an annual award presented by the Austrian Academy of Sciences for lifetime achievement by Austrians in the fields of mathematics and natural sciences. The prize was established ...

*2013 Mendel Medal, Leopoldina *2009

Darwin–Wallace Medal The Darwin–Wallace Medal is a medal awarded by the Linnean Society of London for "major advances in evolutionary biology". Historically, the medals have been awarded every 50 years, beginning in 1908. That year marked 50 years after the joint p ...

*2006

Darwin Medal The Darwin Medal is one of the medals awarded by the Royal Society for "distinction in evolution, biological diversity and developmental, population and organismal biology". In 1885, International Darwin Memorial Fund was transferred to the ...

*1998 President's Award (joint with Mark Kirkpatrick), American Society of Naturalists *1995 Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh *1994

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemati ...

*1994 David Starr Jordan Prize (joint with S. Pacala) *1992 Scientific Medal, Zoological Society *1985

Bicentenary Medal of the Linnean Society The Bicentenary Medal is a scientific award given by the Linnean Society. It is awarded annually in recognition of work done by a biologist under the age of 40 years. The medal was first awarded in 1978 on the 200th anniversary of the death o ...

References

1955 births Living people Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Alumni of the University of East Anglia Academics of University College London Academics of the University of Edinburgh British evolutionary biologists Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization Population geneticists 20th-century British biologists 21st-century British biologists {{UK-scientist-stub