Frequently Asked Questions

If your travel is suspended due to a government shutdown, we will make every effort to refund your registration fees. The NCKMS team understands that there are scenarios beyond any of our control.

We spent quite a bit of time trying to determine if our symposium at the start of the federal fiscal year would be a problem. After polling multiple agencies, we learned that a few of them prefer dates at the end of the year, most preferred after, and some don't mind either way. This was a classic situation of not having any good solution to fit everyone!

In eastern Nevada, we are also constrained by the weather. In early October, things should still be nice. By the end of the month, winter usually arrives and makes travel a bit of a coin toss.

This short answer is, 'YES' - it is a problem - but it's one we can work through with advance knowledge.

If you must pay your registration fees late (and if you have an @.gov at the end of your email), please go through the registration process anyway and select "pay offline". That will get you in our systems and delay any invoice until after the start of the new fiscal year. Our production team really must have the ability to plan for your attendance. Do not wait until the last minute to register! We may not be able to hold a space for you. As soon as you believe you are coming, please go ahead and register early.

Absolutely, but we're not really expecting to sell many of them.

White Pine County is a long way from anywhere. We think that's part of its charm, but it makes random day trips a bit illogical. If you live close enough to reasonably use a day pass, we probably already know you. Just let us know what you need & we'll work something out.

We should have a few extras of everything for on-site sales, but your best bet is to order it in advance.

We'll try to work out some way to sell directly over this website in advance of the symposium.

Nope. One of the valuable services of a NCKMS conference is the direct networking opportunity between professional scientists and resource managers. If you're not there to answer questions about your poster or engage in dialog, you might as well just email it to someone.

All of our official field trips are designed to deliver as much information as possible without requiring much effort on your part. Cave gear is not required. Now... we do expect that there will be numerous "organic" cave trips that happen in the off-hours or weekends. We can help connect cavers for these trips, but the NCKMS conference isn't directly managing them as part of our programming.

That's entirely up to you. NCKMS conferences are designed for professional resource managers, earth scientists, and adult cave enthusiasts. We do not offer a youth or spouse program. Your family would not be able to join you at the daytime sessions. That said, there is plenty of opportunity for family fun in White Pine County. From gemstone hunting to train rides to ghost town explorations - this region of Nevada has something for everyone. If your family wants to join you for our social events or banquet, we can probably work out some kind of reduced admission for those events only. Just let us know.

Honestly, we'd be surprised if there weren't. However, the only cave trips we officially offer will be during the Wednesday field trip out to Great Basin National Park and Lehman Caves. Our registration staff may be able to connect you with other cavers if you wish to go off on your own excursion. Pleaes be aware that WNS decontamination protocol will be mandatory.