Karst Hydrogeology
May 17-22, 2026
THIS COURSE WILL BE HOSTED IN BOWLING GREEN, KY. PARTICIPANTS SHOULD PLAN TO LODGE IN A HOTEL NEAR CAMPUS.
Karst Hydrogeology is a field course that introduces the basics of karst landscape/aquifer systems with an emphasis on methods and techniques relevant to addressing environmental problems as well as general research applications. Topics covered in daily presentations and discussion will include hydrogeology of the South-Central Kentucky Karst region, groundwater tracing and monitoring methods, carbonate geochemistry, and applications of these methods to karst groundwater problems. Field exercises will include surface and cave trips with a particular focus on ‘hands-on’ participation in groundwater tracing and monitoring using both discrete sampling methods and a variety of data loggers. This course will be held in Bowling Green, Kentucky on the main campus of Western Kentucky University with field trips in the Lost River Basin, Mammoth Cave National Park, and Hidden River Cave. This course is available as a workshop or for credit (undergraduate or graduate). Participants must be in good physical condition to negotiate surface hikes, cave passages, and wade small streams which are a major component of this course. Students who take the course for credit will develop an independent research project in consultation with the instructors during the week, which must be completed by August 1, 2026.
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NOTE: each course has a different registration page, so you MUST access the registration portal through this course page to register for the Karst Hydrogeology Course.
Instructors: Dr. Chris Groves, PG
In 1981, Chris Groves joined the Center for Cave and Karst Studies, the original research group that would become the Crawford Hydrology Laboratory, as a student of WKU’s karst program founder, Nick Crawford. His first dye traces were the following year. He is now University Distinguished Professor of Hydrogeology at WKU and Director of the Crawford Hydrology Lab. He received a PhD in Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia, and has since developed an active international research program in hydrogeology, geochemistry and water resources.
Dr. Groves has helped lead several United Nations scientific programs, including as co-Leader of several karst-focused projects of the International Geoscience Program. He also serves on the Governing Board and Academic Committee of the International Research Center on Karst under the Auspices of UNESCO. He served as Associate Editor of Hydrogeology Journal, and has published in the field’s leading journals including Groundwater, Water Resources Research, Journal of Hydrology, and Geomorphology.
Additionally, Dr. Groves has led cooperative research in hydrogeology and water resources of the extensive karst region of rural southwest China since 1995. In January 2017 China’s President Xi Jinping awarded Groves the China International Science and Technology Cooperation Award, that country’s highest honor for foreign scientists, for “great contributions to China’s hydrogeology and karst geology fields.”
For many years, Groves has studied and explored caves and surface landscapes of Mammoth Cave National Park, including service as an expedition leader, Director, and President of the Cave Research Foundation.
​​CONTACT: chris.groves@wku.edu
Instructors: Lee Anne Bledsoe
Lee Anne Bledsoe is a Research Hydrologist and the Associate Director of the Crawford Hydrology Laboratory. She provides project management, professional consultation on tracer test design, advises on hydrologic and water quality monitoring, oversees technical report writing, and supervises CHL staff and students. During her 18 years with CHL, she has worked on dye traces for groundwater basin mapping, effluent and sewer pipe break investigations, dam safety and risk assessment, landfill expansions, determining flow routes from factories and quarries, and groundwater remediation projects across the U.S. Ms. Bledsoe is a WKU Karst Field Studies and Study Abroad instructor, serves as a technical advisor on undergraduate and graduate research at WKU and partner Universities, and leads dye-tracing workshops in the US and abroad. Her current dye tracing studies range from endangered species habitat and biodiversity protection in the Mammoth Cave Biosphere Region to informing forest management in Alaska's Tongass National Forest to collaborative karst research and education projects with colleagues in Mexico, Brazil, and Europe.