NCKRI Annual Report

This last fiscal year NCKRI had many exciting events and successes. Three National Seed Grants were awarded. The NMT Cave and Karst Studies program has grown, with graduate and undergraduate students pursuing research projects. In 2024 NCKRI took the lead on organizing Cave Week and increased its reach to over 100,000 via online platforms. Check out the annual report to learn more about NCKRI's past and ongoing projects.

Annual Report Survey

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Karst Waters Institute: 2025 William B. & Elizabeth L. White Medal for Excellence in Karst Studies

Will be presented to:

Dr. Bogdan P. Onac of the University of South Florida

At a dinner on Friday, April 11, 2025, from 5 pm – 8 pm

Title:  Reflections on 45 Years of Cave and Karst Studies

The Wilson Scholarship recipient and KWI Distinguished Service Awards will also be announced at the dinner.

France Habe Prize 2025

The Karst and Cave Protection Commission of the International Union of Speleology (UIS) is pleased to announce the opening of the PRIX France HABE 2025 to promote the protection of karst and caves for generations to come.

The prize is named in memory and in honor of Dr. France HABE († 10/12/1999) from Slovenia (Yugoslavia), Past President of the Protection Department of the UIS (1973 -1997). The purpose of this prize is to promote the protection of karst and caves. Their natural heritage is an increasingly rich source of proven information on the history of our planet and of humanity, allowing us to act in a more thoughtful, effective and sustainable way for the future of our environment.

The France HABE Prize of the UIS Karst and Cave Protection Commission aims to promote the protection of karst and caves. It will reward the best or most important action, concrete idea, or publication for the protection of a cave, karstic zone, or underground environment in general.

To learn more go to: https://uis-speleo.org/index.php/karst-and-cave-protection-commission/

NCKRI National Seed Grant Program

NCKRI is pleased to announce our next call for grants in support of cave and karst research. NCKRI is currently advertising:

The NCKRI National Seed Grant Program is designed to enable investigators to initiate new cave and karst research, and incentivize new principal investigators to enter the field. We especially encourage projects within the National Park System. Proposals for NCKRI National Seed Grants are due April 24th, 2025.

Applications can be submitted at the following link:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/J6RHL9X

More information can be found here:

https://www.nmt.edu/research/organizations/NCKRI NatlSeedGrantRFP 2025.pdf

Please direct any questions about submission or budget preparation to Judith McShannon (Judith.McShannon@nmt.edu, 575-835-6940). Other questions about this RFP can be directed to Daniel Jones, NCKRI Academic Director (daniel.s.jones@nmt.edu, 575-835-5049).

Initial Data Collection

NCKRI Director, Dr. Ben Tobin and NMT collaborator Dr. Ranalda Tsotsie worked with students to collect discharge, water quality measurements and samples from the Rio bonito.

NCKRI Seminar Series: From Outer Space to Your Cell Phone

Mackenzie Best is a Ph.D. candidate in Geobiology at New Mexico Tech. In February, she gave a presentation on her dissertation research as part of the NCKRI seminar series. Her talk was titled "From outer space to your cell phone: Microbial biogeochemistry of secondary cave deposits and mine waste” (seminar flyer attached). Later in the month, Mackenzie also presented on at the annual Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME) conference and expo in Denver. Her SME talk was titled “High-throughput DNA and RNA sequencing reveals total and active microbial populations associated with critical minerals in historic mine waste, South-central New Mexico."

Research: Mining in Karst