Do you dream to be an explorer? Do you admire places, completely untouched by humans? Do you wander what kind of creatures thrive under the Earth's surface? If you answer with 'Yes' to some of these questions you belong to us or, to be specific, we welcome you to join the Student Club of Biospeleology under the National Museum of Natural History. Here you will learn:
how caves form and how important they are for the rest of the world;
what makes life without light possible;
what kinds of organisms eat stones;
how cave and surface dwellers differ;
what makes bats special;
what kind of people are cavers.
We gather once a week and classes include both practice and theory. We will meet face to face all 'cave' specimens in the museum, talk about research expeditions, and look through the magnifying glass at the smallest inhabitants of the underground kingdom. Preparing for discoveries, we will set up mist nets, listen to echolocation, and cultivate microorganisms. Every young explorer who has passed a course of 8 classes will have the chance to visit a real cave and challenge their own abilities and imagination in the light of the headlamps.
We enrol enthusiast from 3rd to 12th grade separated in groups according to the age and the number of participants. Every next course starts with a minimum of 7 participants.
Older student have the opportunity for an internship at the Bat Research and Conservation Center or other NMNHS departments.