The NRMG is proud to support member projects with an annual small grant. The grant is designed to support efforts in survey, exploration, research, and outreach/public education.
The following projects were awarded small grants for 2021. Congratulations to all awardees!
Geochemical Investigations of the Silvertip Karst, Bob Marshall Wilderness Area, MT
The primary objective for summer 2021 is to conduct a surface inventory of karst features on Silvertip Mountain. Additional field data, such as discharge and water-quality parameters, will be collected from the features and integrated with existing data into a GIS database for visualization and spatial analysis. Results of this study could have important implications for changes in water availability due to climate change.
Sarah Arpin, PhD Student, University of Kentucky
Prince of Wales and Kosciusko Island Exploration
This project aims to begin exploration and documentation of some of the newly discovered karst areas. The primary locations for exploration are the El Cap karst, famous for the 600’ El Cap pit, with hundreds of lidar leads nearby, and North Koscuisko Island, which was not known to have karst until lidar data was published. This project will directly assist in the protection of the caves and karst in the Tongass National Forest (TNF).
Christian Decelle, Master’s Student, Western Kentucky University
Anna Harris, Geologist, U.S. Forest Service
Long-Term Cave Climate Monitoring Sensor (LCCMS)
The LCCMS is designed to be a long term, in situ cave sensor built on an Arduino platform. The sensor will collect data on temperature, pressure, humidity, air flow and eventually CO2 and O2 level. This project… will provide information and data within a year of the beginning of the project in the form of data on sensor effectiveness, method error, short-term climatic data for modeling, and collaboration with agencies such as the NRMG, NSS, USDAFS, landowners, and other interested agencies. This data will be accessible to any collaborating agency and to the public with permission.
Ethan Oleson, Geology & Mathematics Undergraduate, Montana State University
For more information, please contact us!
[…] been loosely following Christian DeCelle’s adventure looking at the karst on Prince of Wales and Kosciusko Islands in Alaska. He sent me this article […]