Led by Gretchen Baker, cave rescue specialist, this 2-day workshop presents an intensive coure in cave rescue. Includes lunch each day. You must attend both days to receive your certificate of completion.
Saturday - All Day
NSS Board of Governors Meeting
Hosted by Western Cave Conservancy at the Bristlecone Convention Center.
Saturday Evening: 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Social Event: WCC President's Reception
Join the Western Cave Conservancy as we host NSS leadership at an informal "President's Reception" & dinner (no-host bar). We hope to introduce new leadership of the NSS to cavers and caves of the western states.
This workshop is a primer for cave geo-microbiology using Monte Neva Hot Spring as an analog site. This all-day workshop & field trip includes lunch.
Sunday: 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Western Cave Conservancy Board Meeting
Sunday Evening: 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Ice cream social & early registration check-in at the Bristlecone Convention Center
Sunday Night Ghost Toast! (after dark)
October-ish tour to a cemetery at a real gold-rush ghost town! Meet in front of the convention center at 6PM. Appropriate adult libations will be provided, and - with enough imagination - possibly some ghosts as well!
Hosted by Dr. Ben Tobin and Aria Mildice from the National Cave and Karst Research Institute, and Sarah Arpin from the Kentucky Geological Survey.
Hosted by Gretchen Baker, cave rescue specialist.
12:15 PM - 1:30 PM: Lunch Break
A list of local restaurants will be included in your program guide.
5:00 PM - Rockin' & Rollin' Geology Steam Train
Join us for a geology-themed ride on the historic Ghost Train of old Ely as we travel up through the Robinson Nevada Mining District. The train will return at approximately 6:30PM.
Special thanks to Racks for offering the discount coupon in your registration packet! After the train, we're heading there to show, "Under a Desert Sky", the movie you would have seen if the government hadn't shuttered Great Basin National Park last week. Bacardi drink specials will be offered at the restaurant bar. Might want to dress warmly - the outside patio can get chilly after dark.
NCKRI's Coffee & Karst Roundtable Conversations
9:00 AM - 11:45 AM: Sessions
9:00-9:25
Managing a Variety of Caves and Cave Issues at Great Basin National Park, Nevada, USA
9:25-9:50
50 Years of Preservation, Environmental Monitoring and Scientific Research at Kartchner Caverns
9:50-10:15
History and Development of Defiance Cave reserve
10:30-10:55
Buying Caves for Cavers (to Protect) - 34 Years of Cave Conservation Through Capitalism
10:55-11:20
Thirty Years of Karst and Cave Conservation by the Virginia Natural Heritage Karst Program, Department of Conservation and Recreation
11:20-11:45
An Introduction to the International Union of Speleology and the Proposed International Day of Caves and Karst
11:45 AM - 2:00 PM: Lunch Break
A list of local restaurants will be included in your program guide.
2:00 PM - 4:45 PM: Sessions
2:00-2:25
Illuminating Karst Hydrology: Dye Tracing for Informed Resource Management at Mammoth Cave National Park
2:25-2:50
Deep caves, big sinks, and anticlines, oh my: dye tracing efforts on Dorton Knob and Hinch Mountain near Grassy Cove, Tennessee
2:50-3:15
Comparative Performance of Mesh Bag and Milk Sock Charcoal Receptors in Field-Based Fluorescent Dye Tracing
3:30-3:55
Preliminary Investigation on Stream Flow Variations in the Black River Complex, Roppel Section of the Mammoth Cave System
3:55-4:20
Groundwater Tracing and Hydrologic Monitoring of the River Styx: Management Applications for Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve
4:20-4:45
Targeting the Right Terrain: Suitability Modeling for Areas of High Karst Conservation Value in Tennessee
5:00 PM: NCKMS Steering Committee Meeting
Bristlecone Convention Center, Pinyon Room
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Bacardi & Tequila Networking Social
Join us in the Sage and Juniper rooms for Bacardi and 1800 Reposado Tequila tasting while we show videos about caves in Nevada.
7:00 PM
Howdy Party & Networking Social
Held at the Bristlecone Convention Center. This dinner is included in your registration.
These will be self-driving field trips with established stopping points and on-site interpreters. A full itinerary will be included in your program book. You will be encouraged to carpool. All field trips will depart from the convention center. Lunches will be provided.
7:00 PM - Poster Sessions & Networking Social
After our field trips return, we're planning a networking social hour(s) and poster session at the Bristlecone Convention Center.
The Mapping of Lehman Caves
by Shane Fryer & Cyndie Walck
Preliminary Investigation on Stream Flow Variations in the Black River Complex, Roppel Section of the Mammoth Cave System
by L.J. Risteski
Environmental personhood and karst management
by Tamara González-Durán
From Surface to Subsurface: Integrating Incrop Mapping in the Mammoth Cave System
by Patricia Kambesis
The Little Muddy Cave Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Problem, Great Basin National Park
by Kirsten Bahr
Managing Kartchner Caverns: Challenges in Cave Management Over the Last 50 Years
by Chelsea Ballard
9:00 PM - Samba Dancing at Mr. G's
After the poster sessions, go south of the border - WAY south... Our very own Shiloh McCollum learned Samba dancing at the recent International Congress of Speleology in Brazil - and she's now giving lessons! If you have a Spotify account, she's also taking requests for the playlist.
NCKRI's Coffee & Karst Roundtable Conversations
9:00 AM - 12:10 PM: Sessions
9:00-9:25
Mapping cave vulnerability and priority areas for biospeleological conservation
9:25-9:50
Characterization and Composition of Skin and Exoskeleton Microbiomes of Aquatic Cave Fauna and the Influence of Environmental Variables on Microbiome Composition and Diversity in the Southern Cumberland Plateau, USA.
9:50-10:15
New surveys of groundwater fauna in the Upper Floridan Aquifer of Florida and Georgia
10:30-10:55
Biodiversity on the brink: Sensitive communities on karst-associated cliffs
10:55-11:20
Evaluating genetic diversity and potential cryptic diversity within the Georgia Blind Salamander (Eurycea wallacei) and the Dougherty Plain Cave Crayfish (Cambarus cryptodytes).
11:20-11:45
Phylogenomics of endangered Batrisodes and Texamaurops rove beetles from central Texas karst regions
11:445:12:10
Evaluating the Efficacy of the Translocation of the Biota from a Cave to a Mine
12:10 PM - 2:00 PM: Lunch Break
A list of local restaurants will be included in your program guide.
2:00 PM - 5:05 PM: Sessions
2:00-2:25
Cave Animal of the Year Programs and Resources for Managers
2:25-2:50
An Education System Designed to Make Cave and Karst Management Easier
2:50-3:15
Improving cave and climate awareness through research at Wounded Knee Cave, Southern Nevada
3:15-3:40
Park-wide Cave Climate Monitoring: Is it as simple as it seems
3:55-4:20
Coach Cave Microclimate: Piecing Together a Broken Past
4:20-4:45
Utilizing Structural Lineament Mapping with Digital Elevation Models for Understanding Speleogeneic Patterns in the Mammoth Cave Plateau
4:45-5:05
Recharge-Driven Variability in Cave Temperature Regimes
7:00 PM
Banquet Dinner & Keynote Speaker
Held at the Bristlecone Convention Center. This dinner is included in your registration.
NCKRI's Coffee & Karst Roundtable Conversations
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Sessions
9:00-9:25
Speleological Inventory and Protection of Cultural Markings with Systematic Removal Processes for Selected Graffiti
9:25-9:50
Strip Coal Mine Reclamation at Sarah Furnace Cave, Pennsylvania
9:50-10:15
The Mapping of Lehman Caves
Warm Springs Natural Area is a 1,250-acre oasis in Moapa, Nevada, featuring more than two dozen bubbling springs, rushing streams and lush wetlands. It is also home to over 28 sensitive species and more than 200 species of birds. Operated by the Southern Nevada Water Authority, their mission is to manage the property as a natural area for the benefit of native species and for the recovery of the endangered Moapa dace.
Hidden Cave is an archaeological site which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, as part of Grimes Point. The cave itself was formed around 21,000 years ago by the waves of rising Pleistocene Lake Lahontan. The cave has been excavated by archaeologists three times: once in 1940, again in 1951, and finally a large excavation in 1979-1980 by the American Museum of Natural History.
Timpanogos Cave National Monument was established in 1922 and is managed by the National Park Service. The monument protects the Timpanogos Cave System located in the cliffs of American Fork Canyon near Alpine Utah. Although the monument is approximately 40 miles south of the Salt Lake International Airport, plan to spend roughly 4 hours on the mountain if taking a tour of the caves. The last day for cave tours in the 2025 season is Monday, October 13.
Patchy blowing dust before 11am, then patchy blowing dust and widespread showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 55. South southeast wind 20 to 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Widespread showers and thunderstorms before 5am, then isolated thunderstorms and scattered rain and snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27. South southeast wind 15 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Isolated thunderstorms and scattered rain and snow showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 47. Southwest wind 5 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts less than a tenth of an inch possible.
