THE IMPLEMENTATION OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AS A MECHANISM TO SUPPORT GRAND CAVERNS IN BECOMING A GEOHERITAGE SITE

Grand Caverns is the oldest show cave in the continental United States with continuous operations since 1806. First explored in 1804, Grand Caverns have become a National Natural Landmark by its impressive and unique shield formations (speleothems). Grand Caverns located in the town of Grottoes, VA have served as the location in where American Southern history, geotourism, research, and education intersect. By its relevance and proximity to several academic institutions, Grand Caverns acts as a place that serves as a hub for the development of multidisciplinary research to inform place-based education about caves, karst, and the intersection with people in the Shenandoah Valley. In this talk, we are going to be discussing how Grand Caverns is institutionalizing research opportunities in diverse cave and karst science research in the area. Examples include on-going research in the construction of a point cloud (map) of the cave, the characterization of shield formations, and geoscience education research with the purpose to improve the tourist experience by introducing geoscientific knowledge within interpretative tours. In addition, we are going to be discussing efforts to increase the involvement of community members and local high school students in the development of research projects along with undergraduate students from James Madison University as well other examples of co-construction of knowledge that are currently put in practice to elevate and amplify Grand Caverns as an important geoheritage site.