Extraordinary Women Leaders in Speleology (EWLS)

Oana Ghiocel, Romanian documentary filmmaker is creating Immigrants Under Earth, which follows Romanian speleologists in the 1980s to uncover a world of explorations, discoveries and unexpected freedom. The idea for the film came while shooting The Bear Cult, which investigated the relationship between humans and bears from prehistoric times to the present. With more than 50 hours of interviews gathered, the film will be a medley of stories of a “generation of adventurers” who, between 1979 and 1989 established many speleological groups and mapped an impressive number of caves. Accompanying the on-site shooting and interviews in the film will be reenactments. New shooting will take place in spring and summer and Ghiocel says she hopes to be able to finish production by end-summer. Apart from the new documentary, she is also working on a book gathering material related to the subject of The Mystery of the Carpathian Sphinx and also a sequel to the film. The plan is to have the book ou

Natalie Erlenbaugh, Indiana State University's Environmental Science Club president and past winners of the 2014 Sustainability Championship lead a trip to the Cave-in Rock State Park and its large limestone cave that was carved out by high-tide by the Ohio. Bandits used to stow away their treasure along there, so she planned the excursion to benefit the numerous geologists in the club. The club is made up of majors in geology, environmental science and related majors, and includes students who enjoy the environment through hiking or other activities. "We're a fun group, with lots of fun people," said Erlenbaugh. She plans to do more cave trips in the future too. #ScienceWomen #WomenCavers #EWLS #Speleology Source: www2.indstate.edu

Delores Gaidowski passed away last year taking with her decades of women's history in caving that I can only imagine. She came from a time when the web was only developing and women often attributed their accomplishments to their husbands and fathers. Delores and Ray Gaidowski purchased a 83-acre property in the early 1980s that held the amazing Kickapoo Indian Caverns. At one time this cave was known as Goblin Cave. It was used by Native Americans hundreds of years before soldiers stationed at Fort Crawford discovered the cave in the middle 1800s. But it wasn't until July 4, 1947, when a building was constructed and the keyhole-shaped entrance to the cave expanded to allow for tours. Kickapoo Indian Caverns is one of Wisconsin's largest cave systems. It is an Indian shelter that was created by an ancient underground river. The passage ways hold several exiting features such as the kiva ‘Nowannus Sukwahan’ chamber of lost waters, a majestic cathedral room with an onyx cei

A Girl Scout caving experience last year resulted in unanimous excitement and interest in speleology. Volunteer leaders Amanda Letany, Michelle Smiley, Jeffrin Lozano and Linda Griffith lead the weekend trip to Bluesprings Caverns. The ladies learned about cave exploration and took a wild tour to an undeveloped part of the cave. They walked sideways, crawled on hands and knees, laid down on their sides, scooted sideways and army-crawled to reach a waterfall. Then they climbed the waterfall and came out wet, muddy and loving the experience. The scouts said sleeping in a cave was one of their favorite things. Fifth-grader Hannah Letany said “the best part of the trip was getting to climb and squeeze through the tight spaces” and fourth-grader Olivia Lozano said she liked the boat tour because “it was peaceful and calm." Great job scouts. Thank you leaders from troop 148 and 86 for supporting women in caving! #CaveKids #EWLS Source: nwitimes.com

Du Meiying, a 52-year-old Chinese woman lived in a cave for three years. Read the full story here: dailymail.co.uk