[CML #16723] Fwd: NCKRI Cave and Karst News and Announcements

Dear Friends,

Today’s news and announcements from NCKRI are:

· UIS Prizes 2017 - Nominations open

· UNESCO Course: Characterization and Engineering of Karst Aquifers

· Mammoth Cave Entrance Now Owned by SCCI

· List of Upcoming Cave and Karst Meetings

You are welcome to share this information with anyone who may be interested. If you have questions, please contact the people and organizations listed below. If you are not receiving this message directly and want to be added to NCKRI’ e-mail list, please contact me.

George

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UIS Prizes 2017 - Nominations open

Dear friends,

The 17^th International Congress of Speleology (ICS) is coming and it is time to talk about the International Union of Speleology (UIS) Prizes. As you know, the UIS gives prizes for specific accomplishments at the ICS or during the period since the previous congress. The UIS Prizes were introduced at the 12^th ICS in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, held in August 1997. These prizes are non-competitive and not related to the cartographic, photographic, athletic, or other competitions at the congresses. More than one prize may be given for a category, but no prize is necessarily awarded.

For the UIS Prizes 2017, four categories are considered:

4.a – The most significant discovery/exploration

The UIS Bureau reserves the right to nominate additional discoveries for this prize, which is judged by a committee of international speleologists familiar with exploration throughout the World. If more than one discovery or exploration is outstanding enough, Honorable Mentions can be awarded.

4.b – The most significant publication about caves or a karst-related topic

Scientific and/or technical publications will be considered for this prize.

4.c – Special Book

Prize for books that are important speleological publications.

4.d – Poster Prize

This prize is for the best poster displayed at the ICS, divided in two categories as follow:

– Best Scientific Poster – Judged by a Scientific Committee composed of international experts.

– Caver’s Prize – The best poster in the opinion of the visitors to the poster display.

The poster can be about any cave or related to any karst-related topic. Entries in the cave photographic and surveying competitions are ineligible for this prize. No poster should exceed 2 m (height) x 1 m (width).

Each poster should contain a concise title, as well as the name, institutional affiliation and address of the author(s). It should include information about the materials and methods used, the results obtained (even if preliminary), and the conclusions reached. The poster may contain photos, figures, tables and maps. Authors must be present at the congress to discuss their work with the other participants.

France Habe Prize

This prize was introduced by the Department of Karst and Cave Protection in 2012.

It is organized annually and has its own rules, available on the UIS site:

http://uis-speleo.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79&Itemid=383.

NOMINATIONS FOR 2017

We encourage that nominations (except Poster Prize category) be sent by May 31^st, 2017.

1 – Nominations for the prize for “The most significant discovery/exploration” (4.a) should be sent to the Chairman of the UIS Prizes Committee at the email address .

Please include the information below:

Responsible for the nomination: full name and contact address.

Brief Description of the discovery/exploration:

Location:

Author(s):

Mention in publication(s):

2 – Nominations for the prizes for “The most significant publication about caves or a karst-related topic” (4.b) and the “Special Book” (4.c) should be sent to the Chairman of the UIS Prizes Committee and include the information below:

Responsible for the nomination: full name and contact address

Title of the book:

Author(s) or editor:

Brief Description:

Publisher:

Date of publication:

Language (s):

Information about printing: Color, paper, size, number of pages, etc.

Site of digital version, if available:

ATTENTION: In addition to nomination via internet, we request that a copy of the printed book be sent to the following address:

Attn

Dr Julia M. James,

41 Northwood Street, Camperdown

NSW 2050

Australia

The author(s) agree that the books received be exhibited during the 17^th ICS and after the event be sent to the UIS Library in La Chaux-des-Fonds, Switzerland.

3 – For the “Poster Prize” (4.d) we will not have nominations but only judgment by a Scientific Committee composed of international experts (Best Scientific Poster) and votes by the visitors of the 17^th ICS (Caver’s Prize).

RECOGNITION

The main recognition that will be delivered to the winners is a certificate.

Any other different one will be decided by the UIS Prizes Committee together the UIS Bureau (e.g. medal, plate, funds).

PRESENTATION

The presentation of the UIS Prizes 2017 will be on Saturday 29^th July during the closing banquet of the 17^thICS, in Sydney, Australia. The ceremony will be illustrated by a presentation of slides of the winners and will be led by the outgoing UIS President.

UIS Prizes 2017 Committee

Nivaldo Colzato (Chairman, UIS Adjunct Secretary, Brazil)

Jean-Pierre Bartholeyns (UIS Adjunct Secretary, Belgium)

José Ayrton Labegalini (UIS Past President, Brazil)

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UNESCO Course: Characterization and Engineering of Karst Aquifers

The 4th International UNESCO's sponsored course "Characterization and Engineering of Karst Aquifers" for the year 2017 will be jointly organized by Centre for Karst Hydrogeology (CKH) and North Arizona University. It will take place between 1 and 8 June 2017 in Trebinje, Bosnia & Herzegovina. Information on previous courses and movie from the last event along with application form, list of participants and program for 2017 are available at web site of the CKH: www.karst.edu.rs.

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Mammoth Cave Entrance Now Owned by SCCI

The Southeastern Cave Conservancy, Inc., has purchased the Daleo Entrance to the Mammoth Cave System, Kentucky, USA. This is the only entrance outside of Mammoth Cave National Park owned by a conservation organizations and includes 88 acres of protected land. For more information and to financially contribute to support this purchase, visit https://www.send2press.com/wire/southeastern-cave-conservancy-inc-purchases-the-daleo-entrance-to-mammoth-cave/.

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List of Upcoming Cave and Karst Meetings

1) Solution Mining Research Institute Technical Conference, 23-26 April 2017 (Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA), www.solutionmining.org

2) US Geological Survey Karst Interest Group Meeting, 16-18 May 2017 (San Antonio, Texas, USA). http://geologyutsa.wixsite.com/sgsutsa/karst-interest-group-workshop.

3) III International Symposium of Speleology, 29 April – 1 May 2017 (Varenna, Villa Monastero – Lake Como, Italy), http://www.iss2017.it/eng/.

4) Climate Record: The Karst Record VIII, 21-24 May 2017, (Austin, Texas, USA), http://sites.uci.edu/kr8conference/

5) 25^th International Karstological School “Classical Karst”: Milestones and challenges in Karstology, 19-23 June 2017 (Postojna, Slovenia), http://iks.zrc-sazu.si

6) National Speleological Society Convention, 19-23 June 2017 (Rio Rancho, New Mexico, USA), http://nss2017.caves.org/

7) National Association of Mining History Organisations Conference 2017, 23-26 June 2017 (Godstone, Surrey, UK), http://namho2017.info/

8) Man and Karst 2017 International Scientific Meeting, 26-29 June (Zadar, Croatia), https://manandkarst2017.wixsite.com/manandkarst2017

9) 17^th International Congress of Speleology, 23-30 July 2017 (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), http://speleo2017.com/

10) International Clean-up of Gouffre Berger, 1-15 August 2017 (Vercors, France), http://cds39.fr/BFC/index.

11) Biospeleology Conference, 21-23 September 2017 (Seville, Spain), https://5encuentrobssevill.wixsite.com/veibs

12) 44^th International Association of Hydrogeologists Congress, 25-29 September 2017 (Dubrovnik, Croatia), http://iah2017.org/

13) Geological Society of America Convention, 22-25 October (Seattle, -Washington, USA), http://www.geosociety.org/GSA/Events/Annual_Meeting/GSA/Events/gsa2017.aspx

14) National Cave and Karst Management Symposium, 16-20 October 2017 (Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA), http://nckms.org/

15) British Cave Research Association 28^th Cave Science Symposium, 20-21 October 2017 (Leeds, UK), website to be announced.

16) International Conference on Geomorphology, 6-11 November 2017 (New Delhi, India), karst session, http://www.icg2017.com/session.php

17) Workshop: Grotte de Han, New Dramatic Effect of Lighting, 16-18 November 2017 (Han-sur-Lesse, Belgium), .

18) The Sinkhole Conference, joint with the 3^rd Appalachian Karst Symposium, 2-6 April 2018 (Shepherdstown, West Virginia, USA), http://www.sinkholeconference.com/

19) 18^th International Vulcanospeleology Symposium, 21-27 July 2018 (Lava Beds National Monument, California, USA), http://www.vulcanospeleology.org/sym18/ISV18.html

20) EuroSpeleo Forum 2018, 23-26 August 2018 (Ebensee, Austria), http://eurospeleo.at/expo.html.

21) 24^th International Conference on Subterranean Biology, 20-24 August 2018 (University of Aveiro, Portugal), website to be announced.

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George Veni, PhD

Executive Director

National Cave and Karst Research Institute

400-1 Cascades Avenue

Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220-6215 USA

Office: 575-887-5517

Mobile: 210-863-5919

Fax: 575-887-5523