BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF KARST FIELD EXPERIENCES FOR EARTH SCIENCE EDUCATION

Field experiences involving caves and karst can be integrated within geoscience undergraduate and graduate programs in many ways. Single-day field trips within general geology courses, up to multi-day research experiences, all provide value to the student program. On the whole, with a joint 50+ years of conducting such trips, we find cave trips are quite positive pedagogical experiences. Probably the greatest positive has been the high engagement of the students. Other benefits are 1) geologic features are often quite clear (unobscured by surface vegetation, soil or weathering processes), 2) class cohesion develops due to challenging field conditions, 3) geology and hydrology can be studied from the inside, commonly with a continuous three dimensional perspective that is not available in surface outcrops, 4) karst science is an arena in which amateur participation is a major factor in the advancement of the science; for example cave mappers and explorers. For the student, this illustrates that important science is reachable by the average person, and 5) caves and karst are nationally important but poorly understood. Challenges include: 1) specialized equipment and lighting, 2) access, and 3) conservation (minimal sampling). Examples of successful short-term projects include paleohydrologic studies (scallops), structural/stratigraphic mapping, morphological studies, water quality, and cave genesis. The disciplines of hydrology, geochemistry, paleontology, stratigraphy, and structural geology are all easily represented. For teachers considering inclusion of these experiences a number of factors should be considered. In all cases the descending priorities should be safety, conservation (both of the cave and landowner relations), and learning. Commercialized caves, including those on public lands, have the benefit of easy access, good lighting, and reliability. Wild (undeveloped) caves should only be included if sufficient instructor or guide experience is available. Applicable laws may require written permission for sample collection, even on private land. Because caves are fragile environments from both the aesthetic and biological standpoints, ideal projects will have very minimal impact on the systems.