Extraordinary Women Leaders in Speleology (EWLS)

Since 2013 when the first Extraordinary Women Cavers Guidebook and Magazine was first released, women cavers have been telling their stories from all over the world. This year the magazine features six women cavers: Amy Morton (Texas), Blanca Aili Usuga (Columbia), Cinthia Campos (California), Nicole Davis (Arizona), Rhyss Anne Plaza (Oregon), and Tanya Masse Leach (Texas). Extraordinary Women Leaders in Speleology (EWLS) is a club that celebrates women who contribute to cave exploration, education, and conservation and specifically supports women in STEM sciences. The club also supports the arts. "We have shared stories about women all over the globe from fine artists, to geologists, to paramedics," said Lisa Bauman, club founder and president. Above is a map of all the women featured in the publication in the 5 years since it's origination. The stars represent club officers who have been featured. You can determine the year a woman was featured by the color. R

Amy Morton was chosen to be featured in the  Extraordinary Women Cavers Guidebook and Magazine  for along side several other extraordinary women cavers in the 2017 August release of the annual publication. Amy has only been caving for three years but she has accomplished a lot in such a short amount of time. She became a caver by happenstance but she has always been an athlete at heart. As a young woman, she participated in physically demanding performances in the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps where she practiced every day in the heat for as much as 12-14 hours and toured around the country competing for five summers. She has taught color guard for 23 years and today she is the Color Guard Director at the University of Incarnate Word .  She also studied dance at one of the most distinguished dance programs in the country and has received numerous awards for her skill. Since becoming a caver, she has contributed to numerous mapping and exploration trips including the Montem

Rhyss Anne Luper was chosen to be featured in the  Extraordinary Women Cavers Guidebook and Magazine  for along side several other extraordinary women cavers in the 2017 August release of the annual publication. Rhyss began caving as a child with her father and the Oregon Grotto . She has been on hundreds of caving trips from from exploration to mapping and conservation trips for nearly a decade. Rhyss recently graduated high school and has already begun taking dental classes in college. She aims to use her professional life to do good by reducing oral diseases in her place of birth. As the founder of Smiles for Philippines she works closely with local dental practitioners and the Global Dental Relief organization to supply oral hygiene supplies in Philippines.  “There is a lack of oral hygiene supplies. This is why I started a humanitarian project called Smiles for Philippines,” she said.