Teen Researchers Make Real Contributions at Mammoth Cave

Students collect dragonfly larvae from a pond at Mammoth Cave NP as part of a multi-park citizen science project on mercury bio-accumulation. Photo by Brittnee Lydy/Dayton Regional STEM School science teacher

This past July 24 students from the Dayton Regional STEM School in Kettering, Ohio participated in an intensive, hands-on, three-week course focused on the science and history of Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave National Park.

The trip, facilitated by the Mammoth Cave International Center for Science and Learning, immersed the students in caves, ponds, and research.

The first week of the program saw the sixth, seventh, and eighth graders learn about the park and different research techniques, while the second week was spent collecting data in the park. Week three saw the students back in Dayton, analyzing data, writing reports, and making presentations about what they had learned.

It’s a big win-win experience. The students explore, enjoy, and learn about the Park, and we benefit from the data collected. Sarah Craighead, Mammoth Cave National Park Superintendent

While in the Park, the students and their teachers:

• Collected water chemistry and data about how fast the water was flowing at five underground sites as part of an ongoing study of water quality in Mammoth Cave’s watershed.
• Mapped and photographed a historic African-American cemetery in the Park, noting headstones and footstones.
• Visited a constructed bat roost to learn how the Park monitors summer bat populations.
• Collected water samples and dragonfly larvae at two of the Park’s upland ponds as part of a multi-park citizen science project monitoring mercury bio-accumulation in dragonfly larvae.
• Photographed twelve historic locations in the cave to compare with images taken in 1991.
• Used night-vision goggles and a thermal-imaging camera to monitor a dead tree in the campground at dusk to confirm that no bats were roosting in its loose bark and it was safe to cut down.

This isn’t just a fun field trip, these kids are doing real research. Their data will be used here in the Park and by university scientists from across the country. The Dayton students were well prepared and accomplished a lot while they were here at Mammoth Cave. Shannon Trimboli, Mammoth Cave International Center for Science and Learning Education Director

During the three weeks, the students and teachers contributed an awesome 1,091 volunteer-hours.

Tween researchers explore citizen science at Mammoth Cave National Park [Mammoth Cave National Park]