Extraordinary Women Leaders in Speleology (EWLS)

"I love to survey and help with restoration. I try to participate on as many projects as I can ... Caving has definitely changed my life." Karla Zajac Clinical Chemist and 2015 EWC #ScienceWomen #WLeadership #ewls www.ewls.org

In the 70s "there was a kind of hazing I had to go through to be accepted [in caving]. I had been told you were not a caver unless you could cave with no equipment. I learned to climb through fear." Carolina Shrewsbury Founder of SpeleoArt and the International Society Speleological Art and 2015 EWC #WLeadership #ewls www.ewls.org

"There is a clear need in the speleology community to open safe spaces for women to not only participate in the speleology community but also to grow into the leadership role models.” Adriana F. Sánchez Cultural Resources Manager, President of Xanvil Culture and Ecology, and 2015 EWC #ScienceWomen #WLeadership #ewls www.ewls.org

“New microbes are as exciting to me as virgin passages – for me there’s a similar thrill of discovery. You know it’s a great day when you get treated to both!” Jennifer Macalady Associate Professor, Geomicrobiologist, and 2015 EWC #ScienceWomen #WLeadership #ewls www.ewls.org

“You need to treat your team how you would like to be treated and give the young, new divers a taste of the action ... you have to give something back." Christine Grosart Founder of WetWellies Caving, Cave Photographer, Paramedic, and 2015 EWC #ScienceWomen #WLeadership #ewls www.ewls.org

“Young women are so often discouraged from pursuing ‘hard science’ fields” but that they “are just as capable, if not more so, as boys and men of doing the dirty work of science and doing it well.” Elen Feuerriegel Rising Star Expedition, PhD candidate, and 2015 EWC #ScienceWomen #WLeadership #ewls www.ewls.org

"If there is any caving skill I possess, it must certainly be a dogged will to just keep putting one foot in front of the other ... The majority of my accomplishments have happened ... all because I jumped out of my comfort zone" Laura Demarest (Young) Watershed Coordinator and 2014 EWC #ScienceWomen #WLeadership #ewls www.ewls.org

Over the years EWLS has found a many women leaders who have worked to contribute in cave archaeology. Read our top 10 below! Anges Milowka (23 December 1981 – 27 February 2011) was an Australian technical diver, underwater photographer, author, and cave explorer. She gained international recognition for penetrating deeper than previous explorers into cave systems across Australia and Florida, and as a public speaker and author on the subjects of diving and maritime archaeology. Read more here . Elen Feuerriegel was featured in our annual 2015 publication this April as an Extraordinary Woman Caver (EWC) and was one of the 6 women scientists who recovered and cataloged than 1200 hominid fossil elements in the South African Rising Star Cave. Congrats Elen. Read more here . Florence Guillot, speleologist for the past thirty years, is co-responsible for the speleological expedition IOWA 2014 in Papua-New Guinea. Guillot has a PhD in History and is an archaeologist and...

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)...

On the 1st day of the 2015 All-Grrs-Cave-Trip the ladies visited Chubby Buddy Cave. #womencavers #ewls #AGCT2015

Photographer and 2013 EWC, Ruth Stickney found many colors in the rock of Chubby Bunny Cave at the 2015 AGCT. Featured here is Rebekah Bauman, 2013 EWC. #AGCT2015 #ewls #womencavers

On the first day of 2015 AGCT early arrivals had the treat of visiting Pillars of Fire Cave, which enters through a well-like structure built by local grottos on private property. What a great day! Thank you all for coming out to celebrate women cavers with us. #womencavers #ewls #AGCT2015

For the 4th year Conrad Foord has preformed his fantastic fire dances during All-Grrs-Cave-Trip Saturday Ceremonies. Thank you Conrad for being awesome and supporting women in science and speleology! #womencavers #ewls #AGCT2015

 Mary Rose, founder of Salamander Caving Gear, is coming to be a vendor at this year's AGCT and we are so excited and honored to have such an amazing leader in caving visit our event. Mary was born in Vancouver, WA but she moved to he San Francisco Bay Area where she completed her BA in Clothing/Textiles at SFSU. She has 20 years experience in fashion. The first 10 years she was a European fashion spy and another 10 years she worked in the sports fashion industry in Hong Kong with brands like REI, Eddie Bauer, Land'sEnd, EMS, and NorthFace. Six years ago she became a caver and since then, Mary has been very active. She headed the founding of Redwood Grotto and has been caving in the US, Slovenia, Czeck Republic, Italy and the cenotes of the Yucatan. Her work with the CRF at Carlsbad Caverns, the Lava Bed National Monuments, and encouragement of a fellow grotto member inspired her to combine forces and start Salamander Caving Gear in Sonoma county to provide ...

This year four EWC's are attending AGCT! Read more about them online or in our annual publication ... http://www.ewls.org/ewls-publication.html

Register Now: ewls.org/register-to-attend.html #AGCT2015 #ewls #womencavers #speleology

Register Now: ewls.org/register-to-attend.html #AGCT2015 #ewls #womencavers #speleology

Register Now: ewls.org/register-to-attend.html #AGCT2015 #ewls #womencavers #speleology

Register Now: ewls.org/register-to-attend.htm #AGCT2015 #ewls #womencavers #speleology

Register Now: ewls.org/register-to-attend.html #AGCT2015 #ewls #womencavers #speleology