• What can I expect?

• Who are the intended participants?

• Why should I attend?

National Cave & KarstManagementSymposium

The biennial National Cave & Karst Management Symposium (NCKMS) is a forum for resource

professionals designed to promote, advance and share concepts in effective management of cave and karst.

NCKMS provides a venue for cave and karst management professionals to share their knowledge and gain new knowledge and perspectives on the latest

practices and problems

associated with caves and

karst.

A presentation about bat gates concludes during the 1999 NCKMS in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Photo by Jim Kennedy

Through presentations, conversations, and field trips, resource managers are exposed to techniques, issues and solutions, and develop

or reinvigorate professional

relationships that lead to

enhanced protection and

conservation actions

focused on caves, karst,

cave ecosystems and water

resources. Attendees listen to a local expert discuss management considerations at the entrance to a cave during a fieldtrip at the 1999 NCKMS in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Photo by Jim Kennedy

Jim Kennedy presents during a workshop at the 2003 NCKMS in Gainesville, Florida.

Professional presentations are a majorcomponent of each symposium

Attendees listening to talks at the convention center during the 2015 NCKMS in Cave City, Kentucky. Photo by Jim Kennedy

Poster session in the convention center at the 2015 NCKMS in Cave City, Kentucky. Photo by Jim Kennedy

Ben Tobin, an NPS Hydrologist at Grand Canyon National Park, stands by his poster at the 2015 NCKMS in Cave City, Kentucky. Photo by Jim Kennedy

Rick Toomey lectures attendees at the KartchnerCaverns State Park amphitheater during the 2001 NCKMS in Tucson, Arizona. Photo by Jim Kennedy

Field trips provide opportunities for symposium participants to put their own caves and karst in a broader, national context and to draw in new information and perspectives from karst resource specialists from across the country. Here, field trip participants listen attentively to a lecture during one of the field trips during the 2005 NCKMS Albany, New York. Photo by Jim Kennedy

Jason Polk (Associate Professor of Geoscience & Director of Center for Water Resources at Western Kentucky University) talks to participants on the Urban Karst field trip in Bowling Green, Kentucky, during the 2015 Kentucky NCKMS. Photo by Steve Taylor

Field trip participants at the 2005 Albany, New York NCKMS receive a lecture at a sinkhole entrance. Photo by Jim Kennedy

Field trip participants visit a major karst spring during the 2011 Midway, Utah NCKMS. Photo by Jim Kennedy

At the 2001 Tucson, Arizona NCKMS, symposium participants had the opportunity to tour the karst of Sabino Canyon in Coronado National Forest. Photo by Jim Kennedy

At the 2015 NCKMS in Cave City, Kentucky, participants had the opportunity to tour a commercial cave, Diamond Caverns. Photo by Steve Taylor

At a stop during a tour of Logan Canyon Scenic Byway, a fieldtrip leader explains how karst hydrology relates to the landscape. 2011 NCKMS, Midway, Utah. Photo by Jim Kennedy

Fieldtrip leaders explain the lay of the land during a gypsum karst fieldtrip at the 2013 Carlsbad, New Mexico NCKMS. Photo by Steve Taylor

At Silver Springs State Park, fieldtrip participants go to learn about karst issues affecting this site and the surrounding area. 2003 NCKMS, Gainesville, Florida. Photo by Jim Kennedy

Site tours allow symposium participants to see various implementations of conservation and management strategies, such as this bat house at the University of Florida, seen during the 2003 NCKMS at Gainesville. Photo by Jim Kennedy

National Cave & Karst Research Institute Executive Director George Veni, followed by another symposium participant, work their way through a cave during the 2011 NCKMS in Midway, Utah. Photo by Jim Kennedy

NCKMS provides opportunities to meet with leading experts in informal situations.

Dale Pate, National Cave Management Coordinator for the National Park Service, during one of the 2011 NCKMS field site visits (Midway, Utah). Photo by Jim Kennedy.

Fossil echinoid in a Florida cave photographed during the 2003 Gainesville NCKMS by Rick Olson.

Fossils are among the many kinds of resources that cave and karst resource managers must be aware of if they are to protect them.

National Cave and Karst Research Institute display at the 2015 NCKMS in Cave City, Kentucky. Photo by Jim Kennedy.

Bat Conservation International display at the 1999 NCKMS in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Photo by Jim Kennedy

Various vendors of caving gear cave, karst related books, and other literature are usually present at NCKMS. Pictured is the vendor area at the 2015 NCKMS in the convention center at Cave City, Kentucky. Photo by Jim Kennedy.

Attendees eating a buffet lunch during a field trip at the 1999 NCKMS in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Photo by Jim Kennedy

Throughout the week, there are numerous opportunitiesto meet leading experts and forge new connections, withmeal times, including a banquet at the end of the week, being among these opportunities.

2015 NCKMS banquet tables set up in the Cave City, Kentucky convention center. Photo by Jim Kennedy

Banquet speaker talking to 2001 NCKMS participants at the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum. Photo by Jim Kennedy

National Cave & KarstManagement Symposium

more information at:

www.nckms.org

www.facebook.com/NCKMS/

Presentation prepared by Steve Taylor on behalf of the NCKMS Steering Committee