News and Announcements
General news, conference announcements and other relevant information can also be found on the main website of the IAH: www.iah.org
Forthcoming conferences and meetings of the Karst Commission
2-7 Sep 2013: International Symposium and Training Course on Hierarchical Flow Systems in Karst Regions, Budapest, Hungary, jointly organized by the IAH Karst Commission (KC), the Commission on Regional Groundwater Flow and the International Union of Speleology (UIS). The annual meeting of the KC will take place in Budapest, and the Young Karst Researcher Prizes 2013 will also be distributed during this event.
Information and Registration:
http://www.karstflow2013.org/
June 2014: International conference “Karst without Boundaries”, in Trebinje (Bosnia & Herzegovina) and Dubrovnik (Croatia), organized in the framework of the UNESCO-GEF project “Protection and Sustainable Use of the Dinaric Karst Transboundary Aquifer System” (DIKTAS). The KC is a partner of DIKTAS and will organize its annual meeting and distribute the Young Karst Researcher Prize at this conference.
For further information please contact KC member Neno Kukuric:
neno.kukuric@un-igrac.org
June 2014: The course and field seminar “Characterization and Engineering of Karst Aquifers” will be offered parallel to this conference, organized by the University of Belgrade and the Geological Survey of Bosnia & Herzegovina, in the Classical Dinaric Karst.
For further information please contact KC member Zoran Stevanovic:
zstev_2000@yahoo.co.uk
Forthcoming conferences with official annual meetings of the KC are planned in the UK (2015) and Karlsruhe, Germany (2016).
The best works presented at conferences where the KC meets (next: 2013, Budapest) will be awarded by a Young Karst Researcher Prize, supported by our Sponsors. Information on previous KC meetings and Young Karst Researcher Prizes (2009 to 2012) see below.
Other important karst conferences, with strong involvement of the KC include:
14-17 April 2013: Conference on Mine Water Solutions in Extreme Environments, Lima Peru. Mining in karst is among the conference topics. On April 14, KC lecturers Nico Goldscheider & Tim Bechtel will present the 5th edition of the MANKARST training course.
http://www.minewatersolutions.com/short-courses/
8-13 April 2013: International Symposiums on Karst Water under Global Change Pressure, Guilin, China, organized by the Institute of Karst Geology and the UNESCO International Research Centre of Karst (IRCK), in cooperation and with support of the IAH KC:
http://iskw.karst.edu.cn/index.php
News
September 2012: During the 40th IAH Congress, Niagara Falls, Canada, the KC has organized five successful sessions on Karst Hydrogeology:
- Karst Aquifers, Environmental Problems and Global Change
- Characterization and Management of Karst Aquifers
- Modeling Karst Aquifer Systems
- Topics in General Karst Hydrogeology
- Artificial Tracers and Environmental Isotopes (with the IAHS Commission on Tracers)
The Young Karst Researcher Prizes 2012 were awarded to:
Sanae El Janyani, France (see photo)
Nicolas Peyraube, France
Owen Naughton, Ireland
Congratulations to the three awardees!
Karst Commission Co-Chair Neven Kresic presents the Young Karst Research Prize 2012 to PhD student Sanae El Janyani, France, and to two other promising young colleagues.
After the IAH Congress, Derek Ford, Daryl Granger and Stephen Worthington led an excellent field trip to some interesting karst terrains in Ontario, such as the town of Walkerton, a prime example of “what can go wrong when the karstic nature of carbonate aquifers with their rapid flow is not appreciated” (Worthington, in Goldscheider & Drew 2007).
April 2012: KC member Tobias Geyer and colleagues have chaired a session on Fissured and Karstified Aquifers at the EGU in Vienna.
December 2011: KC Members Barbara Mahler and Nicolas Massei have chaired a session on Bio-Geochemical Processes and Contaminant Transport in Karst Systems at the AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco. June 2011: The 3rd meeting of the IAH Karst Commission was held during the International Conference on Karst Hydrogeology and Ecosystems, Bowling Green, USA.
http://hoffman.wku.edu/2011karstconference/
The UIS Speleogenesis Commission and the UNESCO/IGCP Project 598 “Environmental Change and Sustainability in Karst Systems” also met in Bowling Green, creating opportunity for discussing international karst cooperation. Art Palmer and William B. White led field trips to the Mammoth Cave and National Park (see photo). The 2011 Young Karst Researcher Prizes were awarded to Ben Miller (USA), Sarah Truebe (USA) and Anita Erőss (Hungary).  William B. White explaining Crump Spring Cave to participants of the Karst Conference in Bowling Green in June 2011 (photo: Goldscheider).
April 2011: KC members Tobias Geyer and colleagues have chaired a session on karst aquifers at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2011 in Vienna, Austria
http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2011/session/6604
November 2010: The kick-off meeting of the UNDEP/UNESCO project “Protection and Sustainable Use of the Dinaric Karst Transboundary Aquifer System” (DIKTAS) was held in Trebinje, Bosnia and Hercegovina. Government representatives and karst specialist from four project countries (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania) and partner organizations from Europe, the US and China, were briefed about the project and provided their input. The KC was represented by Co-Chair N. Kresic, Zhang Cheng, Cao Jianhua and B. Andreo. The participants visited some famous sites in the Dinaric karst including Ombla spring and the Grancarevo Dam (see photo).
Participants of the DIKTAS kick-off meeting on the crest of Grancarevo Dam, one of the largest built in the Dinaric Karst.
More on the DIKTAS project can be found at:
http://www.unesco.org/en/venice/natural-sciences/water/diktas/
http://www.isarm.net/publications/277
October 2010: The annual meeting of the IAH British Chapter & the Hydrogeological Group of the Geological Society focused on karst hydrogeology. KC chairman N. Goldscheider was invited to present a keynote lecture on “Research Frontiers and Practical Challenges in Karst Hydrogeology” (Ineson Lecture). KC member J. Gunn was also among the invited lecturers.
September 2010: The 4th edition of the continuing education course “Hydrogeology and Management of Karst Groundwater Resources”, developed by the Karst Commission, took place in Lancaster, USA, with T. Bechtel & N. Goldscheider as lecturers. Ca. 80 participants attended this course, which has received very positive evaluations!
September 2010: A special issue of Acta Carsologica entitled “Research Frontiers and Practical Challenges in Karst Hydrogeology” edited and prepared by the IAH Karst Commission has finally been printed and published online:
http://carsologica.zrc-sazu.si/?stran=issue&volume=39&issue=2
April 2010: The second meeting of the IAH Karst Commission (KC) was held during the “4th International Symposium on Karst” in Malaga, Spain. Keynote lectures were presented by IAH president W. Struckmeier, KC chairman N. Goldscheider, KC member J. Gunn, and by others. The “Young Karst Researcher Prize” was given to Lou Maurice (BGS, UK), Guo Fang (Guilin, China) and Andrea Borghi (Neuchatel, Switzerland).
Conference papers have been published in the book “Advances in Research in Karst Media”, edited by KC member B. Andreo et al., the first volume of Springer’s new Environmental Earth Sciences book series. Selected papers will be published in a special issue of Environmental Earth Sciences (the journal). The conference also included three one-day field trips to different karst regions, caves and springs in Andalusia (see photo).
The “100 caños spring”, one of the many interesting sites that were visited during one of the three field trips organised during the 4th International Symposium on Karst in Malaga (photo: Goldscheider).
December 2009: The first meeting of the Academic Committee of the International Research Centre on Karst (IRCK, UNESCO) in Guilin, China, was attended by several KC members (N. Kresic, Jiang Guanghui, R. Benischke, O. Bonacci, Cao Jianhua, C. Groves, L. Zaihua, Yuan Daoxian, Zhang Cheng). Together with other experts, they will guide research efforts of the IRCK during the first 5-year term. More on IRCK activities can be found at:
http://www.irck.edu.cn
During their stay in Guilin, the KC members also contributed to a training course on Karst Hydrogeology and Ecosystems” for 17 young scientists from developing countries, which included theoretical and practical sessions, as well as field trips. The closing ceremony was attended by IAH President W. Struckmeier, representatives of UNESCO, and members of Chinese academic institutions and government agencies (see photo).
Closing ceremony of the training course in Guilin. IAH President Struckmeier (first row, #3 from left), Derek Ford (#6), Yuan Daoxian (#9), Neven Kresic (behind Y.D.) and many other KC members participated.
October 2009: In addition to the various existing cooperation between the IAH Karst Commission and UNESCO, the KC will contribute to the UNDP-GEF-UNESCO Regional Project “Protection and Sustainable use of the Dinaric Karst Aquifer System, DIKTAS” by sending several experts to the Science Advisory Panel of this project.
September 2009: The 1st meeting of the rejuvenated Karst Commission (KC) was held during the conference “Sustainability of the Karst Environment – Dinaric Karst and other Karst Regions”, organised by the Centre for Karst (CK), September 23-26, Plitvice Lakes, Croatia.
The “Young Karst Researcher Prize”, for the first time jointly awarded by the KC and the CK with support from our sponsors, was given to Andreas Hartmann (Freiburg, Germany), Caoimhe Hickey (Dublin, Ireland) and Gregor Kovačič (Koper, Slovenia) (see photo).
The awardees of the Young Karst Researcher Prize with the KC chairman in Plitvice, September 2009. From left to right: Andreas Hartmann, Nico Goldscheider (KC), Caoimhe Hickey and Gregor Kovačič.
The participants of the conference and the KC agreed to support and initiative for the protection of the Vjetrenica Cave, known as the “Subterranean Galapagos”:
http://www.vjetrenica.com/
May 2009: Two Sponsors have agreed to support the activities of the Karst Commission (KC), MWH and Enviroscan Inc. Funds will essentially be used for the maintenance of this website and for a “Young Karst Researcher Prize” for the best work presented at our KC conferences and meetings. See below.
April 2009: During their annual meeting in Tullamore, the Irish IAH Chapter organised a thematic session on “Karst Hydrogeology”. KC members David Drew & Nico Goldscheider were among the invited keynote lecturers.
January 2009: IAH President Willi Struckmeier asked Nico Goldscheider (Switzerland) to become Chairman of the IAH Karst Commission, as successor to Heinz Hötzl (Germany). Neven Kresic (USA) and Jiang Guanghui (China) accepted positions of the Co-Chairmen so that three continents with most karst areas worldwide are now represented.
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