Friday, July 27, 2007

William R. Elliott Receives National Award

On July 27, 2007, Dr. William R. Elliott (“Bill”) received the Honorary Membership Award from the National Speleological Society at their convention in Marengo, Indiana. The certificate is “in recognition of his outstanding contributions to speleology,” signed by the NSS Board of Governors. NSS is the world’s leading cave exploration, science and conservation organization with 12,000 members.

The Honorary Membership has been awarded each year since 1941 to outstanding scientists and conservationists, including foreign speleologists, and includes life membership in the Society, although Dr. Elliott has been a member for 39 years. The last Missourian to receive the honor was in 1989.

Bill has been the cave biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation, Resource Science Division, in Jefferson City, since 1998. His duties include research, conservation, management, education, and recreation in caves owned by the Department, and cooperative work with private and public cave owners. He is involved in karst land management issues and public policy.

Bill grew up in Georgetown, Texas, where he began caving at age 15. He joined the NSS in 1968, and he soon was involved in cave exploration, mapping, bug collecting, Mexican cavefish, bats and cave photography. He began finding new species, and over the years ten new species, including a new genus, have been named after him by scientists.

Bill’s biology degrees include a bachelor’s from the University of Texas at Austin, and M.S. and Ph.D. from Texas Tech University. He studied cave life in Mexico, Belize, and many states from Texas to Alaska. He has published numerous scientific articles, and he has trained hundreds in cave ecology and management. His specialties include cave protection, bat studies, millipede taxonomy, biogeography and macrophotography. He has appeared in several videos on caves.

Bill is a Fellow of the NSS and a board member of the Missouri Caves and Karst Conservancy. He is the former Editor and Data Manager of the Texas Speleological Survey (TSS). He is a past director of the TSS and the American Cave Conservation Association. He received the TSS Outstanding Service Award in 2002. In 2006, he received a Special Achievements in GIS Award from ESRI, the makers of ArcMap, for his papers on cave biogeography and conservation. He is active in Bat Conservation International, Missouri Speleological Survey, and the NSS Biology Section. He is Chair of the next National Cave & Karst Management Symposium, to be held in St. Louis, October 8-12, 2007.

Bill has a web site with many photos of cave life and information. Just Google “biospeleology” or go tohttp://www.utexas.edu/tmm/sponsored_sites/biospeleology/

Bill and his wife, Gayle Unruh, like to travel, camp, hike, watch wildlife and canoe. His family resides in Texas, California and Kansas. He is a licensed Sport Pilot and President of the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Chapter #429 in Jefferson City.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Rock blasting threatens ancient Barabar caves

The blasting of rocks for commercial purposes in the hills of Bihar's Jehanabad district is threatening the famous Barabar caves that date back to the third century B.C.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has detected cracks in the caves. "The blasting of rocks for making stone chips has been causing damage to the Barabar caves," ASI superintending archaeologist P.K. Mishra said.

Mishra said the ASI had sought the local administration's help to protect the caves. Soon after the cracks were detected, the ASI sought a ban on the blasting of rocks in the nearby hills.

"The ASI will install a special clock housed in a glass case at the site to monitor the stability of the caves," Mishra said.

ASI officials said the caves date back to emperor Asoka's time and were used by Jain monks as a retreat. The caves, carved out of a huge piece of granite, represent one of the earliest examples of rock-cut architecture in India. The caves also find a mention in E.M. Forster's book "A Passage To India".

Source: India E-news

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

One more cave in Meghalaya, tally 1,100

With the discovery of the Umsngad Sink Cave in Jaintia hills district, Meghalaya can now boast of 1,100 caves including the sub-continent’s longest cave—Krem Liat Prah—which is 25 km long.

Meghalaya Adventure Association (MAA) recently undertook a caving expedition that included members from England, Wales, Scotland, Germany Ireland and USA to Jaintia Hills. It is during this expedition that they discovered Umsngad Sink. MAA General Secretary Bryan Kharpran Daly said, “We explored only 200 meters. We will explore its length later on.”

Kharpran said the team also went deep into the Krem Liat Prah cave, which was 22 km and managed to trace the length of the cave to 25 km. He said it is the longest cave in the sub-continent. Kharpran founded the MAA in 1990 and ever since, he has been organising caving expeditions in Meghalaya.

The MAA had also explored the 14.8-km Krem Umthloo cave and traced its length to 18 km, making it the third largest cave in the sub-continent. Meghalaya is one of the areas in the world with the maximum number of caves. He said the MAA mapped 30 sq km of area in Nongklieh Ridge and has so far discovered 138 cave passages.

Friday, July 27, 2007

William R. Elliott Receives National Award

On July 27, 2007, Dr. William R. Elliott (“Bill”) received the Honorary Membership Award from the National Speleological Society at their convention in Marengo, Indiana. The certificate is “in recognition of his outstanding contributions to speleology,” signed by the NSS Board of Governors. NSS is the world’s leading cave exploration, science and conservation organization with 12,000 members.

The Honorary Membership has been awarded each year since 1941 to outstanding scientists and conservationists, including foreign speleologists, and includes life membership in the Society, although Dr. Elliott has been a member for 39 years. The last Missourian to receive the honor was in 1989.

Bill has been the cave biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation, Resource Science Division, in Jefferson City, since 1998. His duties include research, conservation, management, education, and recreation in caves owned by the Department, and cooperative work with private and public cave owners. He is involved in karst land management issues and public policy.

Bill grew up in Georgetown, Texas, where he began caving at age 15. He joined the NSS in 1968, and he soon was involved in cave exploration, mapping, bug collecting, Mexican cavefish, bats and cave photography. He began finding new species, and over the years ten new species, including a new genus, have been named after him by scientists.

Bill’s biology degrees include a bachelor’s from the University of Texas at Austin, and M.S. and Ph.D. from Texas Tech University. He studied cave life in Mexico, Belize, and many states from Texas to Alaska. He has published numerous scientific articles, and he has trained hundreds in cave ecology and management. His specialties include cave protection, bat studies, millipede taxonomy, biogeography and macrophotography. He has appeared in several videos on caves.

Bill is a Fellow of the NSS and a board member of the Missouri Caves and Karst Conservancy. He is the former Editor and Data Manager of the Texas Speleological Survey (TSS). He is a past director of the TSS and the American Cave Conservation Association. He received the TSS Outstanding Service Award in 2002. In 2006, he received a Special Achievements in GIS Award from ESRI, the makers of ArcMap, for his papers on cave biogeography and conservation. He is active in Bat Conservation International, Missouri Speleological Survey, and the NSS Biology Section. He is Chair of the next National Cave & Karst Management Symposium, to be held in St. Louis, October 8-12, 2007.

Bill has a web site with many photos of cave life and information. Just Google “biospeleology” or go tohttp://www.utexas.edu/tmm/sponsored_sites/biospeleology/

Bill and his wife, Gayle Unruh, like to travel, camp, hike, watch wildlife and canoe. His family resides in Texas, California and Kansas. He is a licensed Sport Pilot and President of the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Chapter #429 in Jefferson City.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Rock blasting threatens ancient Barabar caves

The blasting of rocks for commercial purposes in the hills of Bihar's Jehanabad district is threatening the famous Barabar caves that date back to the third century B.C.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has detected cracks in the caves. "The blasting of rocks for making stone chips has been causing damage to the Barabar caves," ASI superintending archaeologist P.K. Mishra said.

Mishra said the ASI had sought the local administration's help to protect the caves. Soon after the cracks were detected, the ASI sought a ban on the blasting of rocks in the nearby hills.

"The ASI will install a special clock housed in a glass case at the site to monitor the stability of the caves," Mishra said.

ASI officials said the caves date back to emperor Asoka's time and were used by Jain monks as a retreat. The caves, carved out of a huge piece of granite, represent one of the earliest examples of rock-cut architecture in India. The caves also find a mention in E.M. Forster's book "A Passage To India".

Source: India E-news

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

One more cave in Meghalaya, tally 1,100

With the discovery of the Umsngad Sink Cave in Jaintia hills district, Meghalaya can now boast of 1,100 caves including the sub-continent’s longest cave—Krem Liat Prah—which is 25 km long.

Meghalaya Adventure Association (MAA) recently undertook a caving expedition that included members from England, Wales, Scotland, Germany Ireland and USA to Jaintia Hills. It is during this expedition that they discovered Umsngad Sink. MAA General Secretary Bryan Kharpran Daly said, “We explored only 200 meters. We will explore its length later on.”

Kharpran said the team also went deep into the Krem Liat Prah cave, which was 22 km and managed to trace the length of the cave to 25 km. He said it is the longest cave in the sub-continent. Kharpran founded the MAA in 1990 and ever since, he has been organising caving expeditions in Meghalaya.

The MAA had also explored the 14.8-km Krem Umthloo cave and traced its length to 18 km, making it the third largest cave in the sub-continent. Meghalaya is one of the areas in the world with the maximum number of caves. He said the MAA mapped 30 sq km of area in Nongklieh Ridge and has so far discovered 138 cave passages.