October 29, 2002
WKU Geoscientists Present Research
At National Meeting
Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University geoscientists presented research this week at the 114th annual meeting of the Geological Society of America.
The Oct. 27-30 meeting in Denver "is a national showcase for the outstanding research conducted by geoscientists at Western Kentucky University," said Dr. David Keeling, head of WKU's Department of Geography and Geology.
Presentations by faculty and students included:
Dr. Chris Groves, director of the Hoffman Environmental Research Institute, with co-authors Joe Meiman from Mammoth Cave National Park and Dr. Andy Baker from Newcastle University in England: a geoscience research paper titled "Quantitative Evaluation of Karst Landscape/Aquifer System Dynamics Using Carbon as a Tracer."
Rick Fowler, Biotechnology Center laboratory coordinator, along with Groves and Jerry Ovesen, Rolland Moore and Dr. Shivendra Sahi of the biology department: a research paper on using bacterial DNA to monitor cave ecosystems. That project, showcased recently in a visit to WKU by National Park Service officials, highlights the growing level of interdisciplinary research in the Applied Research and Technology Program.
Meiman and Groves, with co-authors, also presented a paper titled "The Western Kentucky University Graduate Program in Resource Management for National Park Scientists" aimed at promoting graduate studies in geoscience at Western.
Dr. Kenneth Kuehn and Dr. Mike May, geography and geology department: a geoscience poster titled "The Kentucky Trimodal Transpark: A Mammoth Problem" that detailed the geological and environmental problems associated with the proposed transpark and related scientific contributions to the public dialogue.
Cathleen Webb, chemistry department, with co-authors from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology: an environmental geoscience poster titled "Arsenic Remediation of Drinking Water Using a Limestone Base" in the Black Hills.
Graduate student Patricia Kambesis, with co-authors Groves and colleagues from the Cave Research Foundation: a geoscience poster titled "Cave Research Foundation in the Mammoth Cave System: A Half-Century of Exploring and Mapping the World's Longest Known Cave."
Undergraduate student Nathan Talley, along with co-authors Groves and Meiman: a geoscience research paper titled "Unsaturated Zone Hydrology of the Edna's Dome Shaft Complex of the Mammoth Cave System, Kentucky."
Research hydrologist Alan Glennon: a geoscience research paper titled "An examination of Perennial Stream Drainage Patterns within the Turnhole Basin of the Mammoth Cave Watershed, Kentucky."
Graduate student Johnny Meredith, with co-authors Groves and Meiman: a geoscience research paper titled "Vertical Shaft Hydrology and Evolution within the Mammoth Cave System, Kentucky."
Graduate student Katie Seadler, along with co-authors Groves, Meiman, Glennon and Weldon Hawkins: a geoscience research paper titled "Land-Use and Groundwater quality at Sinking Spring, Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Historical Site, Kentucky."
More information on the Geological Society of America meeting is available online at http://www.geosociety.org/meetings/2002.
More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
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