UIS Commission on Karst Hydrogeology and Speleogenesis

It is my pleasure to report on the successful and pleasant Symposium and KC meeting in Budapest last week. The idea of the International Symposium on Hierarchical Flow Systems in Karst Regions was to bring together the scientific communities and commissions (IAH and UIS) on karst hydrogeology, speleogenesis and regional groundwater flow.

The event was organized by KC member Judit Mádl-Szőnyi and her team, in celebration of Jozsef Toth’s 80th birthday. It was preceded by short courses on regional groundwater flow and karst hydrogeology. Lecturers include Jozsef Toth & Judit Mádl-Szőnyi (REGFLOW), and Nico Goldscheider & Tim Bechtel (MANKARST). About 70 participants attended the course, and about 130 participants attended the Symposium. Details on the Symposium and course including photographs from the events, as well as the abstract volume, can be found under: http://www.karstflow2013.org/

The Young Karst Research Prizes 2012 were awarded to Amélie Dausse (France), Arnauld Malarad (Switzerland) and to Ildiko Erhardt & Viktoria Ötvös (Hungary, shared prize for joint work). The Prize consisted of Neven’s new book (Water in Karst) and Toth’s book on gravitational flow systems + 500 USD for the top-winner (Amélie). Sponsors: http://www.iah.org/karst/sponsors.html

During the KC meeting, which was chaired by Neven Kresic and me, the following relevant points were discussed:

1. Young Karst Researcher Prize (see above)

2. Ongoing and recently accomplished activities: Conferences in Peru and Guilin, China; MANKARST courses in Peru and Budapest; World Karst Aquifer Mapping Project; several publications and publication projects (review series, special issues, etc.); DIKTAS project, etc.

3. Membership: As the KC is evaluated on the basis of its accomplishments, all KC members must be active for the commission to deserve and maintain their membership.

4. Website: Cooperation with the Speleogenesis website should be made more visible. KC members are encouraged to use www.speleogenesis.info

5. Next conferences and meetings: June 2014, Trebinje, Bosnia & Herzegovina (conference + KC meeting), October 2014, Malaga, and June 2015, UK (conference + KC meeting).

Prof. Dr. Nico Goldscheider
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Institute of Applied Geosciences