Year One, 2005

A Project website will be developed for public relations, communication between project participants, and dissemination of Project results. Using the web site and communication at appropriate scientific conferences and other outlets, additional Project participants and laboratories will be recruited. We will also try to recruit a listserv coordinator.

A plan for the next five years will be prepared using electronic communication, as well as a formal planning workshop at the 14th International Congress of Speleology in Athens Greece in August. It will include a selection of participants and karst field sites with different hydrogeological, climatic, and cultural conditions for understanding the relationships between environmental conditions and ecological function, water supply challenges, other karst environmental problems, and aquifer function and genesis. A minimum of two other Working Group meetings will be held.

In September will be the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH)-Sponsored International Conference and Field Seminar on Water Resources and Environmental Problems in Karst (14-19 September, Belgrade, Serbia), which will include a field excursion to the karst of Montenegro's Zeta River Valley, at elevations of 1,500-6,000 feet, including the Niksic Polje, a flat-floored, elongated depression typical of some karstic regions.

On 16-19 October, the annual Geological Society of America meeting will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, with karst technical sessions, field excursions, and a working group meeting of the new IGCP Project.

Home