Future Directions in Karst Research: A Workshop Proposal

岩溶水域研究所计划主办一次关于岩溶研究方向的跨学科研讨会。这次研讨会的目的是让生物学家、生物地质化学家、微生物生态学家、水文地质学家和地貌学家聚集在一起，他们对推动喀斯特科学的各个方面都有兴趣。讲习班将部分评估目前的知识状况，但其主要职能将是找出这些知识中的差距，并描述(和写下)缩小这些差距的路线图。讲习班的讨论将包括岩溶科学(如古气候、微生物学)以外的学科提出的可在岩溶地区解决的问题。研讨会不是一个只讨论最近科学发现的会议；相反，研讨会将组织严密，以确定未来十年要调查的关键科学问题。研讨会暂定于2006年秋季举行三天，后勤安排紧凑。在简短的介绍性全体会议之后，与会者将被分成几个学科小组，讨论各自专业范围内的当前重要科学问题。三次全体会议将穿插在整个研讨会的纪律分组会议中，以便进行跨学科讨论和整合专题科学问题。在讲习班结束时，虽然仍在讲习班会场，但主要参与者(学科负责人和工作坊召集人)将撰写一份报告初稿，概述岩溶研究的科学状况，并侧重于在未来10年内应调查哪些问题。研讨会召集人将在会议结束后的几个月内完成报告的最后草稿。广泛的影响研讨会应该对包括岩溶科学、水文学、微生物学和生态学在内的各种学科的人力资源产生积极影响。这里申请的资金将用于抵消参与者产生的旅费和每日费用，主要支持将提供给学生、初级教员和纪律小组领导人。将努力将代表性不足的群体纳入工作坊。研讨会将在几个专业渠道上做广告，包括网络资源、EOS、Getime、GSA Today和美国生态学会公报，以确保广泛的跨学科参与。正在向其他机构申请额外资金，KWI已为研讨会拨出10,000美元，用于旅行支持、广告、出版费用和其他杂费。

Martin0608945Intellectual Merit The Karst Waters Institute plans to sponsor an interdisciplinaryworkshop on Research Directions in Karst Research. This workshop is designed tobring together biologists, biogeochemists, microbial ecologists, hydrogeologists, andgeomorphologists who have an interest in advancing all aspects of karst science. Theworkshop will in part assess the current state of knowledge, but its primary function willbe to identify gaps in that knowledge and to describe (and write down) a road map forclosing those gaps. The workshop discussions will include questions from disciplinesoutside of karst science (e.g. paleoclimate, microbiology) that can be addressed in karstareas. The workshop is not intended to be a meeting at which only recent scientificfindings are discussed; instead, the workshop will be tightly structured leading toidentification of the critical science questions to be investigated over the coming decade.The workshop is tentatively planned for three days in Fall of 2006 with tightlyorchestrated logistics. Following a short introductory plenary session, the participantswill be broken into disciplinary groups to discuss the important current science questionswithin their specialties. Three plenary sessions will be interspersed with the disciplinarybreak-out sessions throughout the workshop to allow cross-disciplinary discussions andintegration of topical science questions. At the end of the workshop and while still onlocation at the workshop venue, the key participants (disciplinary leaders and workshopconveners) will write the initial draft of a report outlining the state of the science in karstresearch and focus on what questions should be investigated over the next 10 years. Thefinal draft of the report will be completed by the workshop conveners within severalmonths of the meetingBroader Impacts The workshop should positively impact the human resources of avariety of disciplines including karst science, hydrology, microbiology, and ecology. Thefunding requested here will be used to offset travel and per diem expenses incurred by theparticipants, with the primary support going to students, junior faculty and disciplinarygroup leaders. Efforts will be made to include under-represented groups in the workshop.The workshop will be advertised in several professional outlets including web resources,EOS, Geotimes, GSA Today, and Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America to assurebroad interdisciplinary participation. Additional funding is being requested from otheragencies and KWI has allocated $10,000 toward the workshop for travel support,advertising, publication costs and other incidental expenses.