Dear Friends,

We continue to send you our best hopes that you and your loved ones are well during this time of international crisis.

Here is the latest news:

Various News

  • International Journal of Speleology: Call for Papers for Special International Year of Caves and Karst Issue
  • ASTM Karst Subcommittee: First Meeting Announcement
  • Karst Information Portal: update

Conferences and Meetings

  • Announcing: 2021 Australian Cave and Karst Management Association Conference
  • Fort Stanton Cave Science Conference: Postponed
  • International Cave Bear Symposium: Postponed
  • List of Upcoming Cave and Karst Meetings

Please contact the people and organizations listed below for more information, and feel free to share this message with anyone who may be interested.

George

International Journal of Speleology: Call for Papers for Special International Year of Caves and Karst Issue

On the occasion of the International Year of Caves and Karst (IYCK) next year, the International Journal of Speleology (IJS) is preparing a Special Issue that will consider manuscripts representing new advances, provide insights into, and address challenges in all fields of cave and karst research topics. We especially encourage cross-disciplinary contributions. For more information, visit https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/ijs/. The deadline for submission is October 15, 2020.

The IYCK has incredible potential to advance speleology in many and great ways, but only if we all work together to make it possible. For more information and a downloadable leaflet and planning guide in multiple languages, see www.iyck2021.org.

George Veni, PhD

Executive Director, National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI)
and
President, International Union of Speleology (UIS)

ASTM Karst Subcommittee: First Meeting Announcement

The first meeting of ASTM International’s Karst Subcommittee (D18.27) will be held virtually on Monday, 29 June 2020 at 8:00 in the morning, US Eastern Daylight Time (New York time). The purpose of the Karst Subcommittee is to develop standards that assist and/or guide the protection of karst and pseudokarst and assist in understanding the geohazards accompanying those systems.

If you have experience in karst or pseudokarst geology, hydrogeology, and/or geotechnical methods, we invite you to join the ASTM Karst Subcommittee to help develop the best standards possible for the proper evaluation and management of karst.

If you are an ASTM member, please join D18.27. If you are not an ASTM member, I invite you to join at https://www.astm.org/MEMBERSHIP/index.html. Membership is only $75 for individuals. You do not need to be from the US to join and the Karst Subcommittee already has member from several countries.

If you are not sure you want to join ASTM, this is the perfect meeting for you. You can join virtually, learn more, and then decide if you want to be involved. For more information to join the meeting, contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

George Veni, PhD

Chair, ASTM Karst Subcommittee

Karst Information Portal: update

For those who have not seen or used it, the Karst Information Portal (www.karstportal.org) is a free on-line library with thousands of reports and publications in many languages from dozens of countries around the world. It is a project of NCKRI in partnership with The University of South Florida Libraries, International Union of Speleology, and the University of New Mexico. The Portal is used by explorers, managers, educators, and scientists to advance their activities in cave and karst studies.

For the past couple of years, over 200,000 research papers and other reports are downloaded each year at no cost. Each day, new reports are added to the Portal. Recent additions include studies on speleothems and paleoclimates, cave protection and management, karst hydrology and geomorphology, bats, archaeology, and karst in conglomerate rocks.

If you would like to include your research, newsletter, journal, thesis, or other publications on the Karst Information Portal where everyone can learn from your work, then go to the website above, click on “Help” and send a message.

Announcing: 2021 Australian Cave and Karst Management Association Conference

Wellington Caves in New South Wales, Australia, is pleased to be hosting the Australian Cave and Karst Management Association (ACKMA) events on 3-7 May 2021, incorporating a Guides School and a review of the recent bushfires in Australia and its effects on karst with a Post Fire Workshop. We appreciate the challenges associated with international travel right now but hope to welcome overseas people next year. This conference will also be an event promoting the International Year of Caves and Karst. For more information contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Fort Stanton Cave Science Conference: Postponed

Fort Stanton Cave has emerged as one of the most scientifically significant caves in the western US.  However, this first conference on the cave has been postponed one year to September 2021. The exact date has not yet been selected. It will still be held at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, New Mexico, USA

The primary goal of this conference is to gather together the many individuals who have been working on various scientific and related aspects of Fort Stanton Cave to share results, cross-fertilize their work with other investigators, and hopefully to stimulate more interest in scientific projects into the future.

Abstracts are invited for posters or oral presentations. Abstracts should be submitted online or may be accepted in other formats in special cases (contact the Program Chair for details). Please view the help page for formatting guidelines. Abstracts must be 1000 words or less.

For more information visit https://geoinfo.nmt.edu/FtStanton/home.cfm.

International Cave Bear Symposium: Postponed

Dear Friends of Cave Bears,

We thank you for your numerous registrations for the symposium, but unfortunately we have to cancel the International Cave Bear Symposium (ICBS) 2020 due to the Corona Crisis.

As a result of the Corona restrictions, the opening of the exhibition “Eiszeit-Safari” at the Museum Weltkulturen in Mannheim, Germany, has to be postponed to April 2021 and as the ICBS is closely linked to this exhibition we have decided to meet in autumn 2021 in Mannheim.

As you can imagine, this decision was not an easy one for us and we hope for your acceptance and see you in good health in autumn 2021!

The new symposium (ICBS 2021) will be held from the 30th of September to the 3rd of October 2021.

We look forward to the presentations of the registered talks and posters next year.

Stay healthy and see you in 2021 in Mannheim!

Doris Döppes / Sarah-Nelly Friedland / Wilfried Rosendahl
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

List of Upcoming Cave and Karst Meetings

If you are interested in any of the following events, contact them directly to learn if they are still planned as announced below.

George  Veni, PhD

Executive Director, National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI)
and
President, International Union of Speleology (UIS)

NCKRI address (primary)
400-1 Cascades Avenue
Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220 USA
Office: +575-887-5517
Mobile: +210-863-5919
Fax: +575-887-5523
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.nckri.org

UIS address

Titov trg 2
Postojna, 6230 Slovenia
www.uis-speleo.org
www.iyck2021.org