New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting — Abstracts

America's National Cave and Karst Research Institute, established by the U.S. Congress as a National Park Service entity, began its "gearing up phase" in December 2002 following a 2.5 year development stage. Permanent director Louise Hose has established an Institute office in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Interim Director, Zelda Bailey, continues to work on development issues from the Denver NPS office during this transition time.

The Director's current efforts include initial operational setup, recruiting staff positions (we anticipate a Science Coordinator and an Administrator this year), designing a permanent building, and developing a grant process. The Institute operates under a mandate to raise one-half of its funds from non-federal sources, thus fundraising and marketing constitute major demands. We currently operate under a funding match from the state of New Mexico, which supports collaborative efforts by NM Bureau of Geology -Carlsbad Office hydrogeologist Lewis Land and NM Institute of Mines and Technology (NMT) geomicrobiologist Penny Boston.

Land is currently preparing a manuscript on variations in groundwater discharge from gypsum sinkholes at Bottomless Lakes State Park, NM. An Oklahoma Geological Survey Circular entitled "Evaporite Karst: Engineering and Environmental Problems in the United States" will publish the report this fall.

NMT created a Cave and Karst Studies Program to provide strong intellectual and educational foundations for the Institute and wider speleological community, including vigorous fundraising activities designed to enhance the NMT program and support the Institute's needs. Five new Cave and Karst graduate students will be admitted in Fall 2003 under Boston's direction.