NSS Preserves research grants AVAILABLE

[DonaldMcFarlane]

The NSS Board of Governors has approved a substantial commitment of funds to promote targeted research in NSS-owned and managed caves.

The goals of this research initiative are to provide matching grants for biological and environmental research in the Society's caves that will provide a baseline for the monitoring of potential degradation and the effective management of these caves. Full deatils are on-line at:
http://www.caves.org/committee/rac/preservegrants.html

NSS preserves are detailed at:
http://www.caves.org/preserves/

The deadline for receipt of applications int he first round is September 15th 2006.

[JD]

So Archaeology and the Social Sciences once again get short shrift by the NSS?

I guess if you are working on a history project, or are concerned with material culture studies/preservation in NSS caves they just don't give a hoot. Great. Thanks a lot. Who wrote this policy anyway? You might think it would be worthwhile to circulate a draft to people who do research in caves, as it is a wider group than this policy would indicate.

[JD]

Oh, and the requirment for matching funds favors those at large institutions to the detriment of all scholars working either independently, or at small institutions. Great if you are some Big Name Cave Researcher, but there seem to be some real equity issues here.

This policy priveleges certain fields and certain scholars over others. Great. Is that what the NSS really wants?