Intellectual Merit The Karst Waters Institute plans to sponsor an interdisciplinary workshop on Research Directions in Karst Research. This workshop is designed to bring together biologists, biogeochemists, microbial ecologists, hydrogeologists, and geomorphologists who have an interest in advancing all aspects of karst science. The workshop will in part assess the current state of knowledge, but its primary function will be to identify gaps in that knowledge and to describe (and write down) a road map for closing those gaps. The workshop discussions will include questions from disciplines outside of karst science (e.g. paleoclimate, microbiology) that can be addressed in karst areas. The workshop is not intended to be a meeting at which only recent scientific findings are discussed; instead, the workshop will be tightly structured leading to identification 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 tightly orchestrated logistics. Following a short introductory plenary session, the participants will be broken into disciplinary groups to discuss the important current science questions within their specialties. Three plenary sessions will be interspersed with the disciplinary break-out sessions throughout the workshop to allow cross-disciplinary discussions and integration of topical science questions. At the end of the workshop and while still on location at the workshop venue, the key participants (disciplinary leaders and workshop conveners) will write the initial draft of a report outlining the state of the science in karst research and focus on what questions should be investigated over the next 10 years. The final draft of the report will be completed by the workshop conveners within several months of the meeting Broader Impacts The workshop should positively impact the human resources of a variety of disciplines including karst science, hydrology, microbiology, and ecology. The funding requested here will be used to offset travel and per diem expenses incurred by the participants, with the primary support going to students, junior faculty and disciplinary group 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 assure broad interdisciplinary participation. Additional funding is being requested from other agencies and KWI has allocated $10,000 toward the workshop for travel support, advertising, publication costs and other incidental expenses.
