Beneath the Surface of a Distinguished Career
by Kimberly Parsley
Dr. Nicholas Crawford’s interest in cave research began when he was just 12 years old. Then, his research took the form of cave exploration, a hobby fostered by his involvement in the Boy Scouts of America. His passion for cave research never waned, and now he is one of the world’s leading authorities on caves and karst hydrogeology.
Dr. Crawford, professor and director of WKU’s Center for Cave and Karst Studies,
seamlessly blends scientific research with teaching and public service. His work has earned him the prestigious title of Western Kentucky University Distinguished Professor.
Crawford said that WKU’s proximity to Mammoth Cave National Park was the number one reason he chose to leave Vanderbilt University and come to WKU. In 1978, he started the Center for Cave and Karst Studies, now part of WKU’s Applied Research and Technology Program of Distinction.
He said that Bowling Green, like many cities in the eastern U.S., was dealing with problems of groundwater pollution and coal collapse and flooding. He started the Center for Cave and Karst Studies in part to help find solutions to those problems.
“We still have problems with those issues. We are working on those problems in Bowling Green as well as in other places.”
Crawford, along with the other faculty and student researchers at the Center, remains actively involved in addressing those environmental issues.
“We do a lot of research; particularly dye tracer tests of groundwater flow. We do that throughout the world.”
Currently, the Center is conducting dye tracer research in Guam, Croatia, Ireland, California, Texas, New York, and elsewhere.
“We inject a fluorescent dye into the ground and then we pick it up on activated charcoal, and then we test it in a laboratory. We have a laboratory just used for fluorescence analysis of dye,” Crawford said.
The dye tracer test helps determine where groundwater is flowing, and therefore where any contamination is occurring or would occur in the case of a chemical spill, he explained.
Crawford said the public service effort of which he is most proud is the formation of the Friends of Lost River in Bowling Green, which led to the development of Lost River Cave.
According to Crawford, over 80,000 visitors will travel to Lost River Cave this year.
“It had been abandoned, and the whole cave was full of trash,” he said. “And yet it was one of southern Kentucky’s most historic sites. It’s on the national register of historic places.”
In 1985, the cave land was donated to WKU. The Center for Cave and Karst Studies cleaned up the cave, installed trails and lights, and rebuilt the collapsed areas around what had been the dance floor. The Friends of Lost River was established to maintain the cave. They began operating the Lost River Cave as an educational tourist attraction.
Crawford said the most difficult part of reclaiming the cave was getting people to see the value of it.
“A lot of people just thought it was a hole in the ground, and a lot of people didn’t even know it was there. People who lived in Bowling Green had forgotten that there used to be a famous underground night club at that location. It was kind of starting over again, getting people interested in it.”
“It’s an important part of our history,” said Crawford, who continues to serve as vice chair of the Friends of Lost River Board of Directors.
Crawford’s hard work has benefited his own community as well as other communities, near and far. A microgravity technique developed at WKU to locate subsurface voids was originally employed to pinpoint the location of caves, but the technology has proven to have other real world uses.
In May, Crawford led a team of eight students to the Mexican border.
“We used microgravity and electrical resistivity in search of tunnels along the Mexican border that are used for drug smuggling,” he said.
Representatives from several government agencies accompanied the research team, as applications for the technology are wide ranging.
Crawford said that WKU students are in the field everyday applying their classroom knowledge in the search for solutions to real world problems.
“They get their names put on the research that they are involved in on the reports and publications that we submit. That helps them to have an outstanding resume when they graduate. They get jobs right away as a result of being involved in the applied research that we do.”
Crawford said that karst research has become increasingly important.
“I’ve watched it go from a field where it’s mostly just cave exploring and science about how caves are formed into a very large field with many employment opportunities.
“I’ve been able to combine research and professional public service with teaching. I think the most important role a professor can play is getting students involved in research and professional public service. I’ve been able to put all three of those things together. It’s worked out beautifully for me and I hope for the students as well.”
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