Extraordinary Women Leaders in Speleology (EWLS)

She has been a Mammoth Cave National Park ranger since 1992. Here she has heard many spooky tales from my fellow cave guides and explorers. These modern day oral traditions have been recorded for your reading pleasure and also to pass down American-cave history. Scary Stories of Mammoth Cave is a collection of nineteenth and twentieth century fiction, historical and more recent first hand accounts of unusual experiences by National Park Service employees, cave explorers, and scientists. SOURCE http://bookstore.caves.org http://www.amazon.com #ewls #womencavers #speleology

Carson explains that men and women who study bats aren't scared of the dark or bothered by a bit of smelly guano. And they certainly aren't afraid of bats. They are fascinated by them, with good reason! Bats are the only furred animals-mammals-that can fly and many communicate and hunt using ultrasonic echolocation, gather in enormous colonies of millions, and live for more than 40 years. Many bat species are threatened with extinction and scientists work to save them. Although Carson is not a caver, she ventured into the caver's world to truly understand it before writing the book. She spent a lot of time watching the evening emergence of millions of Mexican free-tailed bats at Bracken Bat Cave in Texas while we were down there researching the book. She also took a cave trip inside. She is a science major who served in the Peace Corps and enjoys writing children's books the most. "When I returned to the US [from the Peace Corps], I looked into science writing

“Above all, don’t fear difficult moments. The best comes from them.” Rita Levi-Montalcini (1909 – 2012), Awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with colleague Stanley Cohen for the discovery of nerve growth factor. #ScienceWomen #WLeadership #ewls

  Elen Feuerriegel, 2015 Extraordinary Women Leader featured in this year’s EWLS magazine is also a 26 years old PhD Fellow at the Australian National University who studies Paleoanthropology. She is one of the six women cavers who discovered Homo Naledi. Her background consists of caving, rock climbing, and excavating fossils in mine shafts. She has a solid grasp of anatomy and is small to fit through the tiny of crevices that sit between the surface and what turned out as treasure trove of bones. When she started Her PhD, Elen didn’t think it would go anywhere until one day when she and the team she was on helped uncover Homo Naledi. It all started when She had responded to a posting on Facebook seeking small cavers. She stated "It's important that our achievements as women become more public. It sets the stage for very young girls to go into fields like this, without having to worry about discrimination or their own capabilities, because there'

Baby bat Stellaluna's life is flitting along right on schedule-until an owl attacks her mother one night, knocking the bewildered batlet out of her mother's loving grasp.  The tiny bat is lucky enough to land in a nest of baby birds, but her whole world has just turned upside down. Literally.  Stellaluna's adoptive bird mom accepts her into her nest, but only on the condition that Stellaluna will act like a bird, not a bat. Soon Stellaluna has learned to behave like a good bird should-she quits hanging by her feet and starts eating bugs.  But when she finally has an opportunity to show her bird siblings what life as a bat is like, all of them are confounded. Anyone who has ever been asked to be someone they're not will understand the conflicts-and possibilities-Stellaluna faces. SOURCES http://bookstore.caves.org #ewls #womencavers #speleology

Jami Kelly plans on being an archaeologist someday and she is attending college to become one. Besides this, she recently became a ranger for the Timpanogos Cave National Monument. Jami was born in Glendale, Arizona, but grew up in Salt Lake City being fascinated by the outdoors where she hiked up any mountain she could. Jami enjoys teaching people about outdoor survival but her main passion is protecting nature. She loves cave archaeology and troglobites. “Jami is new to caves but has caught the fever!” said the moderator of the   Timpanogos Cave National Monument Facebook page. “She is blending her passion for archaeology with the underground.   She reads everything she can get her hands on regarding cave archaeology.   We expect great things from this new ranger!”Great work Jami. Thank you for being an extraordinary woman caver. #ewls #womencavers #speleology #ScienceWomen #WLeaders SOURCES Interview TCNM Facebook Manager TCNM Facebook Page Image: National Par

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"Dreams seldom materialize on their own.” Dian Fossey (1932 – 1985), Zoologist, Primatologist, & Anthropologist who undertook an extensive study of mountain gorilla groups over a period of 18 years. #ScienceWomen #WLeadership #ewls

Here are some of our favorite pics from the EWLS Pinterest page. Enjoy ... #ewls #womencavers #speleology 1. Backstage at Rochas F/W 2014, Paris Fashion Week 2. Gothic Bat Costume Glasses at Amazon.com 3. Found 0nly on Pinterest 4. Forever 21 Fall 2010 5. 1990's High Quality Bejeweled Bat Cat Eye Sunglasses from Rusty Zipper   6. 2010 design Anna Zasada by Jacek Zajac 7. Costume Party Sunglasses from Amazon.com 8. Lara Stone wearing Peggy Guggenheim’s bat sunglasses shot by Karl Lagerfeld for Harper’s Bazaar, September 2009 9. Bat Eyewear by Fakoshima 10. A design by Meadham Kirchhoff at London Fashion Week Spring 2014

“Science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated.” Rosalind Franklin, Chemist and X-ray Crystallographer who made contributions to the understanding of the fine molecular structures of DNA, RNA, viruses, coal, and graphite. #ScienceWomen #WLeadership #ewls

Article by Tabitha Rossman, EWLS Photography Blogger Christine Grosart is our winner of this year’s photography contest. She is also a record breaking cave diver in the UK, a paramedic by trade and a qualified cave leader on adventure trips. She contributes to the documentation of cave exploration though film and photography. She said “There’s no better feeling than shooting video in cave passage you found and showing it to the local cavers, knowing you are the only people that moment in time to have ever seen it. That’s special.” Christine has produced several articles for various caving and diving publications and designed her own website to promote caving though education and photography. The adventure trips she hosts through Wet Wellies focus on quality, education and inspiration. She hosts caving trips in the Mendip Hills near Bristol and the South Wales with qualified leaders. So, if you are interested in cave diving in the UK, you should attend one of these trips (link below)

A Google search will reveal the long history behind the caving career of Meredith Hall Weberg. Her imprint is sprinkled all over the caving community and reveals a long-standing dedication to serve - especially as an advocate for cave conservation. Here are some of the things the EWLS team found: Meredith was the former president of BATS Grotto and the editor of the 2003 NSS Speleo Digest. She is an integral member of the Virginia Cave Board and the NSS Virgina Region (VAR), where she wore and continues to wear hats such as the Virginia Cave Board Education Committee Chairperson and the VAR Conservation Co-Chair. She has served the VAR in many capacities, organizing conservation projects such as the 2015 VAR Easter Restoration Weekend, and organizing VAR Meetings, such as the 2015 Spring VAR. She is the former editor of the BATS News and a regular contributor to many other speleo-publications including the Blue Ridge Grotto's Carbide Dump and The New River Valley Grotto's

“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make." Jane Goodall, Primatologist, Ethologist, Anthropologist, & UN Peace Messenger #ScienceWomen #WLeadership #ewls

By Tabitha Rossman, EWLS Photography Blogger It’s always good to have a back up for your back up as well especially for your digital negatives. When I fist got in to photography that was one thing I wish I knew before I lost all my photos that I was really proud of.   Here are three simple tips that I hope help you in your cave photography career: 1.      Find a system and keep it simple by scheduling time to organize, print and display. 2.      Back them up on an external hard drive 3tb or higher depending on how many photos and space you tend to use up. 3.      You can also for a more cheap alternative you can back up your photos and files on to storage sites like drop box or burn them on to CD (if you still use blank CDs.) #ewls #womencavers #speleology

Paleontologist Julie Meachen at Des Moines University says the 20,000 year old animal remains found in Wyoming's Natural Trap Cave's 15-foot wide 80 feet deep entrance could provide clues to how climate change might have caused many species to disappear from North America after the last ice age. Researchers are studying genetic material they've recovered and comparing it to that of modern-day animals. Two summers of digging have uncovered the remains of cheetahs, camels, horses and lions.#speleology #ScienceWomen #womencavers #WLeadership #ewls SOURCE m.kotatv.com Image: news.berkeley.edu

"Science makes people reach selflessly for truth and objectivity; it teaches people to accept reality, with wonder and admiration” Lise Meitner (1878 – 1968), physicist who worked on radioactivity and nuclear physics. #ScienceWomen #WLeadership #ewls