Program of Distinction Ogden College of

Science and Engineering

Issue 3 3rd and 4th Quarter—January thru July, 2004

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Hoffman Environmental Research Institute (HERI) Page 1 Page 2 HERI—China Pictures Page 3 Water Resource Center (CWRS) Page 4 Kentucky Climate Center (KCC) Page 5 Biotechnology Center (BIOTECH) Page 6 Center for Cave & Karst Studies (CCKS) Page 7 ARTP Center Directory Page 8

Hoffman Institute

Graduate Student Publishes New Book on California Caves

Joel Despain, a WKU Geoscience graduate student from Three Rivers, California, has recently published a new book called Hidden Beneath the Mountains: Caves of Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. The 128-page book describes the history, science, and management of caves within the mountainous national parklocated in the California Sierras. The park contains many of California’s most spectacular and significant caves, including LilburnCave, which, with a length of over 30 kilometers, is the most extensivecave in the western United States. The park’s caves also include enchanting displays of rare and unusual mineral formations, which arehighlighted in many of the book’s beautiful color photographs. Despain, who is employed by the National Park Service asthe cave specialist for Sequoia National Park, has completed his WKUgraduate coursework as part of a specially designed Master’s degreeprogram for full time scientists and land managers in the National ParkService. He travelled to southwest China in 2001 as part of theHoffman Institute's China science program, and has led cave science expeditions to both Indonesia and Malaysia during the time he hasbeen a WKU student.

In 2001, Despain wasawarded the Cave ResearchFoundation’s $3,500 Karst ResearchFellowship for his graduate thesisresearch, which examines interactionsbetween karst geochemistry andatmospheric carbon dioxide in a highmountain karst area of SequoiaNational Park. He has completedfieldwork and will defend hisresearch in fall 2004.

~ Submitted byChris Groves, Director

Hoffman EnvironmentalResearch Institute

chris.groves@wku.edu

A Program of Distinction

Ogden College of Science and Engineering

Applied Research and Technology Program

TCCW 100,

1 Big Red Way Bowling Green, KY 42101

Phone# 745-8892 Fax# 270-745-8893

http://artp.wku.edu

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Page 1Hoffman Institute in the Caribbean Hoffman Institute Students Participate in

Caribbean Island Cave Expedition Geoscience graduate students Pat Kambesis (from Illinois) and Andrea Croskrey (from Iowa)recently participated in a two-week long cave science expedition to Isla de Mona, a remote Caribbean Islandlocated about half way between the larger and more-well known islands of Puerto Rico and Hispanola. To get there, the pair flew to Puerto Rico and then traveled several hours by small boat to reach the field site.This was Kambesis’ sixth trip to the island. The island is administered as a nature reserve by the PuertoRican government, and except for a few rangers along with visiting scientists and hikers, is uninhabited.Accordingly, expeditions must bring all supplies with them to the island, including water, and camp inprimitive conditions. For many years Isla de Mona has been of great interest to scientists because of the extensive caveswithin the island’s tall cliffs that hold clues to movements in the earth’s crust in the Caribbean region as wellas past rates of sea level change associated with global climatic changes. The WKU crew worked on surveying within the caves, to support both science and a conservation program as a service to the PuertoRican Government. Croskrey and Kambesis will present results of their work at a meeting on recent international cave exploration at the annual conference of the National Speleological Society in Michigan this summer.

~Submitted by Chris Groves, Director

Hoffman Environmental Research Institutechris.groves@wku.edu

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Fig. 1: Rimstone dams in Cueva de Pajaros. Fig. 2: Andrea Croskrey surveying in Cueva Basurero,on the Island of Isla de Mona, in collaboration withPuerto Rico Department of Natural Resources. Thiscave has unfortunately been heavily impacted, and theWKU team helped with an inventory to aid thegovernment in conservation planning. Fig. 3: Andrea sketching in Cave of the Spiders.

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Hoffman Institute in China In early 2004 faculty and students from the Hoffman Institute traveled twice to western HunanProvince, China, to plan and carry out a cave exploration and survey project to assist the local government inthe development of an underground reservoir that if successful, will increase water availability to more than40,000 residents of small, Miao minority nationality villages. Led by graduate student Pat Kambesis, theexpedition enlisted experienced expedition cavers from around the US, and included the first American cavediving ever in China. All photos are by Kevin Downy except as noted. ~ Submitted by Chris Groves

Figures 1, 2 and 3: Local Miao nationality villagers in the expedition area. Figure 4: Negotiating with Chinese officials during project planning. Figure 5: WKU graduate Shane Fryer interviewed about expedition progress by a nationalChinese news crew from Beijing. Figure 6: Local landscape in the expedition area. Figure 7: 800 foot waterfall flowing from the entrance to Da Long (Flying Dragon) Cave. Photo by Mark Graham. Figures 8 and 9: Exploration within Da Long Cave. Figure 10: Cave diver Dave Black prepares to explore and map flooded passages in Da Long Cave. Figure 11: Local villagers gather around WKU graduate student Mark Graham to see the day’s digital photos on a laptopcomputer. By the end of the expedition the entire village was turning out each evening for the show. Figure 12: A local delicacy, fried bumble bees.

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GIS exhibit An exhibit was put together for the AWWA (American Water Works Association) conference in June. Itwas a collaborative effort between the (CWRS) the Center for Water Resource Studies, the HoffmanInstitute, the GIS lab, Kentucky Rural Water Association, Center for Biodiversity, and the Center for Cave andKarst Studies. The display presented the varied ways that GIS is used at WKU, from education to fieldapplications. On display were multiple examples of GIS maps that have been created by faculty, staff, andstudents as well as information about the centers that use GIS. WATERS WATERS (Water Analysis, Training, Education, and Research Services) is a new lab at WKU.WATERS is a consortium between WKU and Mammoth Cave National Park. A collaboration was consideredwhen Dr. Andrew Ernest, Associate Dean, completed an analysis on the Ogden Environmental Lab andMammoth Cave's water lab. Each of these facilities had excess in the areas where the other had deficiencies. WKUhad technical expertise, faculty, staff, and students. The water lab at Mammoth Cave had modern but under-utilized instruments. An agreement was reached to combine OgdenEnvironmental Lab and Mammoth Cave’s water lab, and thusWATERS was created as its own individual entity. Any water-linked organization can also join the consortium as long as theycan provide employees or equipment, as the City of BowlingGreen is in the process of doing. WATERS is located on thefourth floor of the EST building on the WKU campus. Waste Water Kentucky has made a transition to community watersystems in recent years. Presently 90% of Kentuckians haveaccess to community water, allowing for a more stable andaccessible supply of water. This increase in use of community wastewater systems, as currently only 55% of Kentuckians are on such a system. The 45% of Kentuckians not on wastewater systems use a septic tank or some other sort of individualwastewater disposal. However, there are problems with septic tanks in karst areas which typify Kentucky. Innon-karst areas septic, failures are visually apparent (pools over the tank, which can be cleaned and fixed). Inkarst areas, water moves so quickly through the system that it is not adequately cleaned; and there is no visiblesign of this over the tank. There are plans in the works to solve this problem and enable more Kentuckians to be on communitywaste water systems. The CWRS is a part of this solution and the implementation of programs to improve thesituation. Dr. Ernest has been involved in creating a handbook to be used by small water communities to solvethis problem, as water utilities will be responsible for issues of wastewater. The CWRS also provides technicalsupport for wastewater in this area. (Written by Yasamin Shariat, Graduate Assistant CWRS)

~Submitted by Andrew ErnestDirector, Center for Water Resource Studies

andrew.ernest@wku.edu

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The Kentucky Climate Center provides services to meet theneeds of Kentuckians in business and industry, education and research,government and other pursuits. In operation since 1978, it partners with theNational Climatic Data Center, the Midwestern Regional Climate Center,and the National Weather Service. The American Association of StateClimatologists recognized the Kentucky Climate Center as the official StateClimate Office for Kentucky in 2000. Each year the Kentucky ClimateCenter responds to hundreds of phone and e-mail requests for informationby providing data and historical context for significant weather events thatcharacterize Kentucky’s climate. The Center increasingly relies on theWorld Wide Web ( http://kyclim.wku.edu) to deliver information and hasthe capability to develop customized, interactive products tailored to theneeds of users. Dr. Stuart A. Foster serves as director of the Kentucky ClimateCenter. He succeeded Mr. Glen Connor, who built the Kentucky ClimateCenter to national prominence as State Climatologist for Kentucky, in July

of 2000. Dr. Foster received a Ph.D. in geography from the Ohio State University in 1988 where his research interestscentered on the development and application of varying-parameter models for spatial processes. He played an instrumentalrole in developing Western’s certificate program in Geographic Information Systems. Dr. Foster credits the ARTP withexpanding the scope of opportunities for faculty and students in the Kentucky Climate Center: “The ARTP has enabled theCenter to support some of our brightest students and provide opportunities for them to engage in research and gain exposureto the scientific community by participating in regional and national conferences. It has also played a critical role inhelping Western recruit some talented young scientists to the faculty.” The Kentucky Climate Center actively seeks partnerships to advance climatic research and services in Kentucky.Partnerships with the National Park Service at Mammoth Cave National Park and the Barren River Area DevelopmentDistrict have led to an expanding network of climate observation stations that will aid our understanding of localizedclimate variability in Kentucky. In addition, the Center recently developed the Joint Initiative on Hydroclimatic Studies inconjunction with the University of Delaware. This initiative will enable the Center to add capabilities for high-resolutionenvironmental monitoring across Kentucky and contribute to research on climatic hazards ranging from flash flooding todrought.

~ Submitted by Stuart Foster Director, Kentucky Climate Center

stuart.foster@wku.edu

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KBRIN LAPTOPS ENHANCE BIOINFORMATICS TRAINING AT WKU

The KBRIN (Kentucky Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network) is acollaborative effort formed by 13 institutions across the state and is supported by alarge grant from the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutesof Health. The activities of KBRIN-affiliated institutions (including WKU) aredirected towards the enhancement of basic science and biomedical research,particularly in the areas of genomics and neuroscience. Additional funds wererecently obtained from an administrative supplement to this grant by WKU’s lead

faculty representative to KBRIN, Cheryl Davis, and were used to purchase a mobile suite of laptop computers for student use in the Department of Biology. As a result, many Biotechnology Center faculty have been ableto successfully incorporate bioinformatics-based computer exercises into a variety of classes and laboratories over a wireless internet connection. Vector NTI and other bioinformatics/genetics software has been loadedonto each machine; and the computers are now used routinely in Biol 221-Intro to Molecular and Cell Biology, Biol 327-Genetics, Biol 328-Immunology, Biol 350-Intro to Recombinant Genetics, Biol 450-Recombinant Gene Technology, and Biol 522-Systematics and Evolution. There are also plans to utilize the laptop suite inthe Biotechnology Certification training program in the 2004-2005 academic year.

~Submitted by Sigrid JacobshagenDirector, Biotechnology Center

sigrid.jabobshagen@wku.edu

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Students, faculty and staff working on the weir project building the formsfor the concrete dam and finally, thefinished product. Below Left: Joe Meiman, hydrologistfor Mammoth Cave National Parkinstalling a pressure transducer/datalogger to measure discharge andwater chemistry data.

In February 2004, the Center for Cave and Karst Studies (CCKS) started construction of a compound weir across a stream that flows off the sandstone caprock and sinks into a sinkhole in the underlyinglimestone and then flows underground through Logsdon’s River in Mammoth Cave National Park (MCNP).The weir was constructed as a donation to the Mammoth Cave International Center for Science and Learningand is presently being used to assist with the hydrogeologic research being performed by Dr. Ezzat Raeisi, aGeology professor from Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran, who spent a one year post doctorate at the CCKS. Dr. Raeisi’s research is in cooperation with Dr. Chris Groves, Hoffman Environmental Research Institute and Mr.Joe Meiman, Hydrologist for Mammoth Cave National Park. Realizing the importance of collecting scientific data for MCNP, Mr. Joe Ray, a groundwater hydrologist for the Kentucky Division of Water, was gracious enough to allow the CCKS to construct the weiron his property. Dr. Nick Crawford designed the weir and supervised its construction. Graduate assistant Yancy Moore, and undergraduate assistant Rolland Moore, were in charge of the three-month long construction project. Other CCKS student employees and Geography/Geology students who worked on the weir were BenTobin, Brian Ham, Andy Zimmerman, Daniel Thomas, Chad Martin, Ronson Elrod, Josh Brewer, AndreaCroskrey, and Heather Veerkamp. The weir was funded through the CCKS revenue account, with the cost ofits construction being approximately $20,000. ~ Submitted by Nicholas Crawford

Director, Center for Cave and Karst Studiesnicholas.crawford@wku.edu

ARTP STAFF:

Blaine Ferrell—Director, Dean OCSE Marilyn Anderson—Assistant to the Dean

blaine.ferrell@wku.edu 745-4448 marilyn.anderson@wku.edu 745-8891 Cindy Graham—Administrative Research Assistant Steva Kaufkins—Operations Specialist cindy.graham@wku.edu 745-8890 steva.kaufkins@wku.edu 745-8894 Lisa Haynes—Office Coordinator Lisa Wood—Office Associate lisa.haynes@wku.edu 745-3252 lisa.wood@wku.edu 745-8892

CENTERS: Agriculture Research and Architectural and Manufacturing Education Complex Science Institute Nevil Speer 270-745-5959 Neal Downing 270-745-6302 nevil.speer@wku.edu neal.downing@wku.edu Applied Physics Institute Center for Biodiversity Studies Phil Womble 270-745-3859 Scott Grubbs 270-745-5048 phillip.womble@wku.edu scott.grubbs@wku.edu Biotechnology Center Center for Cave and Karst Studies Sigrid Jacobshagen 270-745-5994 Nick Crawford 270-745-3252 sigrid.jacobshagen@wku.edu nicholas.crawford@wku.edu Kentucky Climate Center Materials Characterization Center Stuart Foster 270-745-5983 John Riley 270-745-2533 stuart.foster@wku.edu john.riley@wku.edu Institute for Astrophysics and Institute for Combustion Science Space Science and Environmental Technology Mike Carini 270-745-6198 Wei-ping Pan 270-780-2532 mike.carini@wku.edu wei-ping.pan@wku.edu Engineering Services: Center for Water Resource Studies The Scott Center Andrew Ernest 270-745-8895 Matt Dettman 270-745-2462 andrew.ernest@wku.edu matthew.dettman@wku.edu Hoffman Environmental Mechanical Engineering Research Institute Services Center Chris Groves 270-745-4169 Joel Lenoir 270-745-6858 chris.groves@wku.edu joel.lenoir@wku.edu Electrical Engineering Services Center Stacy Wilson 270-745-5848 stacy.wilson@wku.edu

Program of Distinction Ogden College of

Science and Engineering

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