Sara Craighead, Superintendent of Mammoth Cave National Park

Years ago this extraordinary woman was already being noticed for her achievements. Craighead was featured in the Death Valley Journal blog as a Woman of Death Valley. And even before this, her path was leading her to her position today as superintendent of Mammoth Cave National Park.

In 1974 she was valedictorian of Caverna High School in Cave City. That summer she took seasonal employment at Mammoth Cave National Park while attending Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky., where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in biology. “My very first job was selling crafts at the Mammoth Cave Hotel. The cave was my jumping off point with the National Park Service. Now, more than thirty years later, I have the honor of managing the park."

Before becoming superintendent in 2012, Craighead served as the superintendent of Saguaro National Park (Tucson, Ariz.) and was the first superintendent of Washita Battlefield National Historic Site (Cheyenne, Okla). "... It is a little different trying to get used to managing that whole subsurface environment with the complexity of just getting goods and services down there," said Superintendent Craighead.

SOURCES
Courier Journal
www.nationalparkstraveler.com
Death Valley Journal
Image: National Parks Service

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Jessica Deli

Jessica Deli has been Central Region Coordinator for the NCRC since 2012 but before then she had already made her mark as a rescue specialist and cave conservationist all over the US. Deli has been involved with the National Cave Rescue Commission since 2005. With a simple Google search you will find her name everywhere participating in cave rescue training efforts. She appeared in the New York Grotto 2008 report for the Cave rescue Seminar and 2013 Orientation to Cave Rescue. In 2006 Kansas City Grotto mentioned her in the Orientation to Cave Rescue at Indiana University. Central Indiana Grotto enjoyed her demos in 2012 at the club's Vertical training. At the 2011 NSS Convention she presented "Atmospheric Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide Levels in Caves: What is Normal? Preliminary Results" with Anmar Mirza. And in 2005 she was involved in the Buckner's Cave clean-up project at Indiana University Bloomington. Deli's credentials in civilian life are impressive too! T

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