General news, conference announcements and other relevant information can also be found on the main website of the IAH: www.iah.org

This part of the Karst Commission (KC) website will provide additional information, such as meetings of the KC, training and education opportunities, and other relevant news.


News
April 2010: The second meeting of the Karst Commission (KC) will be organised during the 4th International Symposium on Karst in Malaga, Spain (27-30 April). The KC “Young Karst Researcher Prize” will be awarded for the second time. Papers will be published in a Springer book and a special issue of Environmental Earth Sciences, edited by KC member B. Andreo and others. A training course and several field trips will also be offered.
http://www.cehiuma.uma.es/en/sika.asp

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: The KC has launched two new publication projects: A special issue of Acta Carsologica dedicated to Karst Hydrogeology (http://carsologica.zrc-sazu.si/) and a loosely connected series of “Reviews in Karst Hydrogeology” with the goal to collect and evaluate current knowledge in karst hydrogeology and make it available to the scientific community. For further information please contact nico.goldscheider@unine.ch

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.


Forthcoming meetings of the Karst Commission

See also conference announcement on the main IAH website

27-30 April 2010, Malaga, Spain http://www.cehiuma.uma.es/en/sika.asp

September 2011, Besancon, France (to be confirmed)

2012, Toronto, Canada, during the 40th IAH Congress

2013, Guilin, China (proposed)

The best works presented at these KC conferences will be awarded by a “Young Karst Researcher Prize”, supported by our Sponsors.