2009 Atacama Expedition Begins!

A team of scientists from Universidad Católica del Norte, The SETI Institute, USGS, and University of Nevada, Reno return to the Atacama Desert, northern Chile. We will be working at caves in the driest desert on the planet. We will be in the field from 01 - 24 June. Objectives include (a) upload data from all our field instruments, (b) remove and replace batteries on all instruments and re-launch instruments, and (c) analyze data in near real-time to determine if instrument placement is correct -- this may also involve moving sensors to more appropriate areas within cave, or supplementing data collection effort by increasing the number of sensors in a given cave. You may go to my blog blog site to stay current on our progess in the field.

USGS Cave Biota Factsheet featured on USGS Home Page

Our USGS factsheet is currently featured prominently on the USGS National Page! Go to USGS Home Page.

USGS Southwest Cave Biota Factsheet Released

The USGS recently released a factsheet describing the three new genera and over 15 new species discovered from caves on Grand Canyon-Parashant adn El Malpais National Monuments. To view this factsheet, go to Southwest Caves Reveal New Forms of Life.

2009 Mojave Desert Expedition Successful!

The Mojave Desert Campaign as part of Phase 2, Earth-Mars Cave Detection Project was a huge success. We are now collecting hourly temperature and barometric pressure data at five caves and five non-cave features in the Mojave Desert, southern California. Thanks to Dan Ruby and two excellent cartography teams, we now have all but one cave completely mapped! Thanks very much to all who assisted in this effort! Go to my blog site for more information on this expedition.

New USGS Cave Ecology Website Launched!

The Southwest Biological Science Center, Colorado Plateau Research Station has launched a website devoted to our cave ecological research in the southwestern U.S. Go to USGS Cave Ecology!

Information on White-Nose Syndrome

USGS Newsroom: Newly Identified Fungus Implicated in White-Nose Syndrome in Bats: Mysterious Bat Disease Decimates Colonies in the Northeast (30 October 2008).

Watch the NPR Science Friday Video: Dead Bat Mystery (18 April 2008).

Refer to the other NPR news storys: Disease Deadly to Bats Spreads in Northeast U.S. (30 April 2008) and Northeast Bat Die-Off Mirrors Honeybee Collapse (19 February 2008) for more information.

ADVISORY TO CAVERS!!! This advisory was posted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service -- Recommended procedures to Prevent the Possible Spread of White-nose Syndrome.