Chief JASON Project Speleologist (Cave Scientist)

Hydrologist at the Big Cypress National Preserve in Ochopee, Florida

2. Education and Professional Training: I received my B.A. with Honors from Eastern Washington University, in Cheney, Washington, and my Ph.D. in Physical Geography from McMaster, in Hamilton, Ontario. Prior to my current position at Big Cypress National Preserve, I was an assistant professor at Indiana State University, in Indianapolis.

3. Mission on the JASON Project: I study hydrology and geomorphology, and have concentrated on karst, or limestone, systems. One of the major structures created in limestone are caves. The study of caves and their contents is called speleology. My mission on the JASON Project is to introduce speleology to studentsÑincluding surveying, mapping, and safety considerations. My other mission is to guide people at an early age to a situation where they could properly comprehend the subsurface so they could be free of all the myths and prejudices and ignorance that people have about what goes on beneath the ground surface in caves.

4. How much time have you spent in caves? The best estimate would be close to 8,000 hours. I have various times in the past estimated that maybe one year I spent 600 hours underground in caves, and if IÕve been caving for a quarter of a century, I guess that would easily be 8,000 or more. IÕve been caving since I was child, and when I was 15 I joined the National Speleological Society in the U.S.

5. What made you decide to be a scientist? I have been interested in cave exploration since I was six or seven years oldÑ or even before that. As far as becoming a hydrologist, an actual researcher in this field, that wasnÕt something I decided was of interest to me until I was 18 and in university, and I took my first geology course. Geology was not offered in any elementary or high schools that I went to, so I was in university before I decided to make a career of this. I grew up in Washington State, where I was able to explore sea caves on weekends or after school.

6. Did you take a lot of science classes in high school? I did take quite a few classes in high school in scienceÑphysics, chemistry, biology, and that sort of thing.

7. When you were growing up, who were your heroes? My main heroes were Robert E. Lee and Babe Ruth.

8. Why do you think people should study science? I would hope they would study something thatÕs interesting and fascinating to them, and I personally find science and math and archaeology to be extremely fascinating to me. Secondly, and just as important, children when they become adults will need to be able to function knowledgeably and intelligently. They need to be educated in the full sense of the word, so that they are able to interact with society in a way that is most beneficial to them.

9. Why are you involved with the JASON Project? As a scientist and speleologist, I would like to contribute to students a general understanding of cave systems. Caves are extremely importantÑfor a number of reasonsÑbut because thereÕs so much mystery surrounding them, they are very often difficult to access. There are a lot of preconceptions out there that I hope we can avoid by portraying the caves the way they really are, and not like they are portrayed in Hollywood or in some literature. One of the creatures that is surrounded by myths, prejudices, and fear is bats. I am interested in them, because they relate to the bellbasins and bellholes. I hope to set straight the incorrect myths that bats are dirty, fly into peopleÕs hair, etc.Ñand to convince them that bats are really beneficial in many ways. For example, bats eat insects and pollinate plants, both of which help agricultural practices in the tropics. So bats are really a beneficial natural resource.

10. If you werenÕt in your profession, what would you be? I remember that when I was little I wanted to be a general and then President. But today, if I werenÕt a hydrologist or speleologist, I suppose IÕd be a lawyer or a historical novelist. I read as much as I can, and read an enormous amount. When I was a child I used to read just about everything, and I still doÑas much as possible.

11. Do you think your job is fun? And why? I have to make a distinction between my job now and my job as a cave scientist. I have to say as a cave scientist, yes, a tremendous amount of fun. Otherwise, I guess I wouldnÕt have spent several decades being involved with it. I like the aspects of exploration and discovery in environments where no human has ever been beforeÑor if there have been humans, itÕs been perhaps a thousand years since they were ever in these environments. I like the whole idea of scientific aspects of solving interesting and important puzzles, putting the pieces together with research, coming up with answers and conclusions to understand some of the very curious things that go on underground.

12. If a student wants someday to do what you do, what can he or she do to prepare? If they want to do something very similar to what I do, I would urge them to contact one of the local divisions of Speleology. This may not always be possible to do, as not everyone lives in an area where there are caves. And if youÕre younger, of course you donÕt have transportation so itÕs not easy for children to do this sort of thing. Fortunately, my father shared some of my interest in caves. But it wasnÕt really until I was able to go to college or university and had the freedom to travel, and some resources to do it, and met organizations of like-minded people, that I was actually able to indulge myself in this particular interest. I donÕt know what to say to someone in elementary school. I guess they could read everything they could on the subject, and maybe vicariously do it in that way. ItÕs possible that scouting organizations may provide means for elementary and high school kids to partake in cave explorations.

13. If you had one message for students, what would it be? I would urge students to hike and backpack in the national parks as much as possible, to visit museums and read everything. I think that doing those three simple things would sort of foster a lot of other virtues. Doing these things, particularly being outside in the most wonderful parts of the outdoors, would just innately foster a lot of other things that would engage studentsÕ curiosity in learning more about everything.

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Gene Carl Feldman (gene@seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov) (301) 286-9428
Todd Carlo Viola, JASON Foundation for Education (todd@jason.org)