Research Opportunities

Great Onyx Groundwater Basin Study

Great Onyx Cave and the surrounding groundwater basin, located in Mammoth Cave National Park, is the focus of an on-going and diverse scientific research project. Students interested in working here could be involved in fluorescent dye tracing, geochemistry and water quality monitoring, unique mineral identification, cave resource inventory, and GIS database development and mapping. 

Lost River Basin Groundwater Research

CHL is looking for a student or a student team to assist with groundwater tracing within the Lost River Cave Basin right here in Bowling Green. This project would entail fluorescent field and lab work to refine local basin boundaries while also running an experiment for material testing both benchtop and in situ.

Solutions for Karst Groundwater as Community Water Sources

Since 2018, CHL has been evaluating untreated karst groundwater sources for families and communities that choose not to use treated water primarily in the Anabaptist communities. Currently CHL is investigating methods for water filtration without electricity to address public health needs. Building relationships and exploring solutions with the community is key. We let the communities guide both the educational and technical aspects of the project.  Let us know if this sounds interesting as there are various aspects that could be explored.

Hidden Landscapes: The Intersection of clean water, culture and karst in southcentral Kentucky, USA. 

This project stemmed from our initial research described above and is GIS focused to show the intersection of potentially vulnerable communities using untreated karst waters. This project is wrapping up this semester but we are still looking for folks to gather and input data. Check out this story map for more info,https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/5d8abe8f5eff4f08b6f0f2d938439705. 

Mammoth Cave Biosphere Region

The Mammoth Cave Biosphere Region is an internationally recognized place where local residents, public and private sector organizations, and technical experts cooperate to maintain thriving communities while conserving our unique natural resources. The opportunities are wide open for someone interested in sustainability research and community involvement. Check out this story map for more information https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/766218ed8587449da5de25345d2554be and feel free to contact Lee Anne Bledsoe, lee.bledsoe@wku.edu to discuss how you can be involved.