Bowling Green, Ky. - Geoscience students and faculty from Western Kentucky University’s Hoffman Environmental Research Institute are working to study and map significant caves in three Kentucky counties to help The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and affiliated agencies understand and protect these resources.

Working in Metcalfe, Green and Adair counties, the WKU/TNC group has mapped six caves, along with providing photo documentation and preliminary biological surveys. In one case, maps and a report of these activities led to a state grant to set aside an 80-acre tract in Metcalfe County containing a picturesque gorge and several key caves.

The previously understudied caves have been overshadowed by the world-class caves that are part of the nearby Mammoth Cave system, said Chris Groves, director of the Hoffman Institute. “In many other less cave-rich areas of the country, several of the caves being mapped by the group would be considered as major systems,” he said.

The group has utilized other hydrological techniques such as fluorescent dye tracing to establish the routes of underground streams within the cave systems in support of the project.

“In my mind, these types of activities optimize the very concept of WKU’s Applied Research and Technology Program,” Groves said. “Students simultaneously work on gaining experience and developing technical skills while providing a real service to the Commonwealth.”

Dr. Richie Kessler, who manages efforts within the Green River watershed for The Nature Conservancy, has coordinated activities with the WKU group. “The Nature Conservancy and other affiliated agencies benefit from the expertise and energy that the WKU students bring to these efforts,” Kessler said. “We look forward to developing new, enhanced programs in both resource protection and education.”

While at WKU recently to get an update on the work, Groves and Kessler initiated discussion for a region-wide workshop on karst resource evaluation that the Hoffman Institute plans to present to TNC scientists. This effort will likely attract TNC scientists and conservation managers from Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana.

“This partnership is critical to TNC’s mission,” Kessler said. “Having access to the expertise found in programs such as the ARTP’s Hoffman Institute allows us to make better informed conservation management decisions based on the best available science.”

A presentation on the work’s progress will be given by Hoffman graduate student Melissa Hendrickson at this fall’s National Cave and Karst Management Symposium in Rochester, N.Y. The presentation is co-authored by Kessler, Groves and the Hoffman Institute’s Pat Kambesis.

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For more about The Nature Conservancy, visit www.nature.org

For information, contact Chris Groves at (270) 745-5201.