Celebrating Caves at the 2023 National Speleological Society Convention

Lima Soto, Maaz Fareedi, and others repair a broken speleothem in Hamilton Cave. (*Photo by Mike Mansur*)

By Pat Smith, Washington Office – Lands, Minerals, and Geology. Edited by Daniel White.

The National Speleological Society (NSS) held its annual convention in Elkins, WV the week of June 26, 2023. NSS leadership, members from regional cave groups and grottos, federal and state agencies, and educators across the country gathered to learn from each other and go caving in beautiful West Virginia.

Convention attendees had the opportunity to engage with presentations, workshops, and vendors on the Davis and Elkins College campus. On Tuesday evening, British cave diver Rick Stanton gave an illuminating talk detailing his key role in the famous 2018 Thailand cave rescue.

Will Wilson, the geologist from the Monongahela National Forest, assisted with the convention planning and hosted a booth to share information about the Monongahela

Decontaminated clothing hanging and drying on wire mesh fences. — Clean clothing and gear at the White-nose syndrome Decontamination Station. *(USDA Forest Service photo by Lima Soto*)

National Forest and how the Forest Service is involved in caves and karst management. The booth also highlighted the Monongahela National Forest’s selection for the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Program. Convention attendees were invited to create their own ornaments to decorate the tree that will appear on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol building for the 2023 holiday season.

To combat the spread of White-nose syndrome, the NSS, National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI), and federal agencies partnered to organize a White-nose syndrome decontamination station at the convention campground. With the help of community volunteers, a thorough and accessible process was set up to clean caving gear using power hoses, a hot water bath, a sanitation station, and a drying area. After each cave trip, participants brought their gear to the station and trained volunteers guided them through the steps.

On Wednesday, Mike Mansur (NSS) and Kirsten Bahr (National Park Service) taught the Cave Formation Repair Project workshop. The morning session was spent learning about the project and cave formation repair techniques. Students were provided with a copy of Mike Mansur’s book, The Cave Formation Repair Project: Restoring the Beauty of America’s Great Caves, which offers an in-depth guide to cave formation repair. Participants practiced various speleothem repair techniques in the classroom at five workstations, which included mixing epoxy, matching speleothem pieces, and using drills and stainless-steel pins to reattach broken speleothem pieces. During the afternoon session, participants drove to an NSS Cave Preserve, a parcel of land owned by the NSS with the intention of protecting and providing access to its caves, to repair speleothems in the field. With a total of 27 workshop participants and 15 field participants, the group made repairs to five broken formations in one of the preserve’s caves.

Chad Harrold, Lima Soto, Will Wilson, and Pat Smith at a Monongahela National Forest booth. — Chad Harrold, Lima Soto, Will Wilson, and Pat Smith at the Monongahela National Forest booth. (*USDA Forest Service photo*)

Overall, the convention was a great event allowing for stakeholders to exchange information and ideas about cave management, network with other caving professionals, and connect with the caving community. For more information on the NSS, please visit National Speleological Society – Explore, Study, & Protect Caves.