Dr. Katherine Crispin, Administrative Vice President of the NSS, #51841

Earlier this month EWLS posted an article about Dr. Katherine Crispin that incorrectly denoted the newly elected NSS Executive Committee member’s professional accomplishments so we’d like to tell you a little more about her and clear things up.

In the 1990’s Katherine became involved with the NSS, Greater Allentown Grotto, and Mid-Atlantic Karst Conservancy where she participated in digs, exploration, and learning about speleohistory and scientific aspects of Karst.

While completing her Ph.D., she continued to cave and gradually became more involved with caving organizations. She joined BATS grotto, and is the secretary of the organization today. She is a current member of Standing Stone Grotto and a life member of MAKC. Katherine is extremely involved in The Robertson Association (TRA) and Old Timer’s Reunion (OTR) where she serves as the co-chair of registration.

At the TRA she wears many hats. She serves as the Ombudsman, on the Grants Committee Board, and as the Outreach and Growth Coordinator.

Katherine said “I am passionate about reaching out to potential new members of TRA … so that we are a vibrant and healthy organization for years to come. I visit [non-NSS-affiliated] college caving clubs … and try to get them in touch with area grottoes and encourage them to attend OTR.”

In a message to EWLS, Sarah Richards chimed in to share more about Katherine’s contributions. She said “Dr. Kat is a rock star!! (she's also my friend!) … In addition to the details that you have, Dr. Kat is also an officer of the BATS Grotto and an elected trustee of The Robertson Association.”

Katherine currently is a Staff Scientist at The Pennsylvania State University working in the Materials Characterization Laboratory where she oversees WDS/EDS techniques which give quantified chemical composition of materials such as rocks, minerals, metal alloys, ceramics, etc. on the microscale.  Katherine is highly involved in professional organizations as well.  She serves as a Director of the Microanalysis Society (MAS) and is the Social Media Coordinator for MAS and the International Union of Microbeam Analysis Societies (IUMAS), a member of the Organizing Committee for the 2016 MAS Topical Conference on EPMA, the MAS program co-chair for the 2017 Microscopy & Microanalysis conference, among other activities.

Since 2013 she has served as Research Collaborator for the Smithsonian Institution and Associate Editor for American Mineralogist.  She is a Visiting Investigator at Carnegie Institution of Washington.  Katherine has authored and co-authored numerous publications and been a speaker for many events and conferences. She is the recipient of numerous prizes including EMU Poster Prize from the European Mineralogical Union (2010), and the Graduate Dean’s Instructional Excellence Award (2008-2009).

Needless to say, the NSS is lucky to have Katherine on the Executive Committee and EWLS is proud to consider her an extraordinary woman leader. Thank you Katherine for all you do! #ewls #womencavers #ScienceWomen #speleology