Folks, This is a reminder of the Brown Bag Talk today (12/12/12) at high noon.
Geary Subject: George Veni to speak on Wednesday, December 12 at noon at Edwards Aquifer Authority Edwards Aquifer Philosophical Society - aka brown bag luncheon Wednesday, December 12, 2012 at Noon Edwards Aquifer Authority Caucus Room 1615 N. St. Mary's Street, San Antonio, TX Dr. George Veni, Executive Director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute in Carlsbad, New Mexico will be making a presentation titled: "The National Cave and Karst Research Institute: >From Inner Space to Outer Space" The presentation will be held on Wednesday, December 12, 2012 at high noon in the caucus room at the Edwards Aquifer Authority. These are informal presentations so please feel free to bring your lunch. For directions or further information, the Authority may be contacted at 210.222.2204 or www.edwardsaquifer.org<http://www.edwardsaquifer.org/>. Note also that this talk will be in our new building. While the address is still 1615 N. St. Mary's Street, you must enter the parking lot off of Camden or Quincy Street. If you are traveling a long distance to the talk, I would recommend that you call our receptionist that morning to make sure that the talk is still scheduled at the number below. On very rare occasions, we have had to cancel or move the talk. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Thank you. Geary Schindel Director - Chief Technical Officer Aquifer Science Edwards Aquifer Authority 210.222.2204 Presentation Description The National Cave and Karst Research Institute: >From Inner Space to Outer Space by George Veni, Ph.D. Executive Director The U.S. Congress created the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI) in 1998, in partnership with the State of New Mexico and the City of Carlsbad, and was mandated to conduct, support, facilitate, and promote programs in all aspects of cave and karst research, management, education, data archiving, and national and international collaborations. NCKRI is a non-profit corporation administered by the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. While many of NCKRI's early years were spent building a physical headquarters and administrative foundations, it has worked consistently toward its mandates at the local, national, and international level. The past couple of years have seen substantial growth in activities through a variety of projects that include: * The Karst Information Portal: an open access international virtual cave and karst library. * Designing state-of-the-art exhibits for NCKRI's National Cave and Karst Museum. * Geophysical research on and to prevent collapse of anthropogenic sinkholes more than 100 m in diameter. * Humanitarian project to alleviate karst-related flooding problems in Guatemala. * Karst aquifer management workshops for educators and managers taught in Brazil, Mexico, Texas, and West Virginia. * Nationwide evaluation of cave and karst research, management, and education programs at all U.S. National Parks containing caves and/or karst. * Dye tracing in arid karst terrains. * Hosting two national and three international conferences over the next 18 months. * Geomicrobiological research on the potential for extraterrestrial life. * To learn about these and other NCKRI projects, and on how you might be able to partner with NCKRI, come to the lecture. If you can't make it, check out www.nckri.org<http://www.nckri.org>. Biography Dr. Veni is an internationally recognized hydrogeologist specializing in caves and karst terrains. Prior to NCKRI, he owned and served as principal investigator of George Veni and Associates for more than 20 years in San Antonio. Much of his work has been in Texas, but he has also conducted extensive karst research throughout the United States and in several other countries. He presently serves as Vice President of Administration for the International Union of Speleology and has served as a doctoral committee advisor for geological, geographical, and biological dissertations for multiple universities and taught karst geoscience courses as an adjunct professor for Western Kentucky University for 12 years. Three cave-dwelling species have been named in his honor, including one causing some recent angst for the Texas Department of Transportation! He has published and presented nearly 170 papers, including four books, on hydrogeology, biology, and environmental management in karst terrains. George Veni, Ph.D. Executive Director National Cave and Karst Research Institute 400-1 Cascades Avenue Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220-6215 USA Office: 575-887-5517 Mobile: 210-863-5919 Fax: 575-887-5523 gv...@nckri.org<mailto:gv...@nckri.org> www.nckri.org<http://www.nckri.org>