Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University Geography Professor Chris Groves has been invited to lecture at the continuing education course “Hydrogeology and Management of Karst Groundwater Resources” next week at the Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

The workshop is being organized by the university’s Centre d'Hydrogéologie, a research center whose members include several internationally prominent karst scientists, and is sponsored by the Swiss Federal Office for Water and Geology, the International Association of Hydrogeologists, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. 

Dr. Groves, who directs the Hoffman Environmental Research Institute within WKU’s Applied Research and Technology Program (ARTP), was one of two Americans invited to participate in the course, which otherwise will be taught by European scientists.  It will run for three days, plus several days of field trips in the Jura Mountains and Alps of France and Switzerland.

The course aims to provide a fundamental understanding of karst aquifer systems and the sustainable management of their valuable groundwater resources. This includes a presentation of modern investigation techniques with a focus on groundwater quality and contamination problems, as well as a discussion of innovative approaches to groundwater vulnerability mapping.

Like Kentucky, Switzerland and other European countries have extensive deposits of limestone in which karst landscapes and aquifers have formed, characterized by such features as caves, sinkholes and underground rivers. In such karst regions, groundwater resources are very easily contaminated, which is a major issue there since many Europeans rely on these aquifers for drinking water.

“The global reach of teaching and scholarship in the geosciences at Western Kentucky University is truly remarkable,” said Geography and Geology Department Head David Keeling. “From Europe to Asia, and from North America to South America, geoscience faculty and students are forging meaningful relationships that will provide significant learning and research opportunities in the future. Chris’ involvement in the UNESCO project is a great example of the internationalization of research and learning at WKU.”

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For information, contact Chris Groves at (270) 745-5974.

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