Biology

Crawford Hydrology Lab (CHL) Director and University Distinguished Professor of Hydrogeology Chris Groves has returned from China with students Evie Dukes and Leah Groves, where they attended an international training course organized by the International Research Center on Karst (IRCK) Under the Auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

WKU faculty, students, and staff have been collaborating with Chinese colleagues in water resources research in southwest China’s spectacular karst landscapes for more than 25 years, with much of this work supporting scientific and conservation programs within UNESCO.

Evie Dukes, from Paducah, Kentucky, a Mahurin Honors student majoring in Environmental, Sustainability, and Geographic Studies (ESGS) and Spanish, has a third major in the China Flagship program. Along with her Chinese language training, the trip was a perfect compliment to her recent selection for a Mahurin-Crawford Hydrology Lab Cave Research Fellowship (https://dyetracing.com/f/announcing-the-2023-mahurin-crawford-cave-research-fellows), and she has begun working on water-related research in the lab.   

Leah Groves, a junior at Bowling Green High School (BGHS), is one of several students who have been working with CHL and their teacher Cristen Olson in the BGHS Science National Honor Society in groundwater hydrology research at Mammoth Cave National Park and was one of three students to represent Kentucky at the American Junior Academy of Science earlier this year in Washington, D.C. with presentations about their research. https://www.wbko.com/video/2022/12/08/bg-high-school-students-present-research-washington-dc/.

In China, as a requirement of the UNESCO training course, both Evie and Leah gave presentations about work at Mammoth Cave to the group, which included the course faculty as well as other students from 15 countries.  

The 10-day training course consisted of lectures from cave and karst specialists from around the world but was mainly focused on field work in several of China’s, and the world’s, most spectacular karst landscapes within areas of the South China Karst World Heritage Site. This included beautiful caves, along with sinkholes that are among the deepest in the world—several the group studied and climbed down into are over 1,000 feet deep. 

This was the 14^th annual karst hydrogeology international training course organized by IRCK, and the 2023 class was held back in China after two years where students instead met through Zoom. As a member of IRCK’s Governing Board, Groves serves each year as an instructor in the course and a number of times he has been able to take WKU students along to China.

The Crawford Hydrology Lab, within WKU’s Applied Research and Technology Program (ARTP), has extensive international ties, and its UNESCO-affiliated research programs have enabled students to travel throughout the world for research or to conferences. Dr. Cate Webb, ARTP Director, noted that connecting students to research directly through hands-on engagement is a hallmark of the mission of the WKU ARTP.  

Several important meetings took place during the trip. The WKU group was joined for a few days by Mr. Todd Hannah, Science Office for the State Department at the US Embassy in Beijing, who learned about the long background of WKU’s environmental programs in China and met several of WKU’s Chinese colleagues. Groves also met with Mr. Li Yong Kai, director of the Wulong Section of the UNESCO South China Karst World Heritage Site, and to plan next steps for a Sister Park Arrangement with Mammoth Cave National Park and World Heritage Site that goes back to 2009.

We especially appreciate the efforts of our Chinese IRCK colleagues including Luo Qukan, Bai Bing, and Zhang Liang for their extensive efforts to organize this wonderful course, as well as kind assistance we received from Mr. Rudy D’Allessandro with the National Park Service Office of International Affairs, and Dr. Zhang Rong of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. Very welcomed WKU support for the trip was provided by the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Science, Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Gatton Academy, Mahurin Honors College, the Office of Global Learning and International Affairs, and the Applied Research and Technology Program.