BCRA NEWSLETTER JUNE 2025
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In this newsletter
• 2025 BCRA Science Symposium and AGM
• BCRA online seminars
• Cave and Karst Science Issue52(1)
• Hidden Earth 2025 Update
• Bid for 2029 UIS Congress
• BCRA Membership
• Next Council Meeting
• Supporting BCRA
2025 BCRA Science Symposium and AGM
The 36th Annual Cave Science Symposium will be hosted by Professor David Richards, Linda Wilson and Professor Fiona Whitaker at the University of Bristol’s School of Geographical Sciences, University Road Bristol on Saturday 11th October 2025. We welcome everyone with an interest in caves and karst science. This will be a live in-person event but will also be streamed online, where possible. The BCRA AGM will be held in person and online at the end of the morning session. Following the symposium, an informal evening meal will be arranged for those who are interested. Further details will follow. Field trips will take place on Sunday 12th October in the wider Bristol area, including the nearby Mendips.
Call for Abstracts Oral and poster presentations are invited on all areas of cave and karst science, including:
• past climate records from caves
• speleogenesis,
• karst hydrogeology,
• cave archaeology/palaeontology
• cave biology
• cave technology.
Those wishing to present at the Symposium should provide a title and an abstract of up to 300 words and indicate whether an oral presentation or poster presentation would be preferred. This should be sent to David Richards (david.richards@bristol.ac.uk) by 15th August 2025. Please include “BCRA” in the subject line of your email.
Registration There is no registration fee but donations would be appreciated (we suggest £5 - £10 for non-students) to help cover the cost of the event. Donations can be made on the day or online at https://bcra.org.uk/bookshop/donate.html). Registration details will follow nearer the time.
Student Travel Grants Support with travel costs will be available for students who provide a talk or poster and, subject to demand, it may be possible to offer travel support to other student attendees.
Further information Details of the venue and local facilities in Bristol as well as details of the programme and field trips will follow in the second circular. For enquiries concerning oral or poster presentations please contact David Richards (david.richards@bristol.ac.uk).
A sign-up link for the event, field trips and Saturday evening meal will be available nearer the time.
BCRA Online Seminar Monday 9TH June 2025 19:30to 21:00 Via Zoom (for login details see the BCRA website).
This months seminar is “Expedition Medicine : The art of applying science to cavers “ by Rostam Namaghi, Chair of BCA. This is the last seminar in our current series but it is planned to resume the programme in September. Anyone who would like to offer a seminar is asked to contact the Secretary or to speak to one of the members of Council.
BCRA report from Bristol Speleological Society’s Museum ( Linda Wilson )
DNA from Fishmonger’s Swallet, South Gloucestershire, helps map evolution of fever-causing bacteria A human jawbone housed in a small Bristol Museum has contributed ancient DNA to ground-breaking research into bacteria The jawbone was found in Fishmonger’s Swallet, a cave in South Gloucestershire, and is now in the University of Bristol Speleological Society’s Museum. This was one of four samples from across the UK, ranging from 2,300 to 600 years ago, that helped researchers at the Francis Crick Institute and UCL in London use ancient DNA to pinpoint the evolution and spread of Borrelia recurrentis, a type of bacteria that causes relapsing fever. More information is available on https://darknessbelow.co.uk
Cave and Karst Science. The latest issue, 52(1), was printed in May and has been mailed to those who have opted for a printed copy. An online veriosn is available on the BCRA website. The Editors are keen to receive suitable material for future issues so please get writing!
2025 Hidden Earth Update The dates for Hidden Earth have been announced as 26th-28th September 2025 in the same venue as last year at Llangollen Please check with the Hidden Earth media outlets and website [ https://hidden.earth/# ] for further information . If you wish to submit a lecture/presentation / workshop ,you can now do this on the Hidden earth website . Details of the various competitions are also available on the website.
Bid for 2029 UIS (Union Internationale de Speleology) Congress.
The UK bid to host the 2029 UIS Congress is progressing well. The committee has agreed that the University of Birmingham is the preferred venue for the main event and the dates will be 22 – 29 July. The weeks before and after the main event will see a series of speleocamps at venues across the country. As part of a promotional video to be shown in Brazil (and at Hidden Earth if the bid is successful!) Bartek Biela and assistants spent the evening of Friday 2nd May filming in the British Cave Science Centre at Poole’s Cavern.
BCRA membership . If you haven’t renewed your membership, or wish to join, go to the membership and subscription section of the BCRA website or upgrade your BCA membership through Just Go.
The next BCRA council meeting will be held on Sunday 6TH July 2025 from 10.00 to 16.00 hours as an in-person meeting at the British Caving Library . Further information is available on the BCRA website
Supporting BCRA.
Members will note that there has been a lack of field meetings since the end of Covid restrictions and we encourage anyone willing to organise a meeting to contact the secretary.
IT Support
As those who use the BCRA website will know, it has grown over the years thanks to a major time commitment from David Gibson. It now contains a large amount of important information but accessing this is not always easy. BCRA would welcome support from anyone with the time and expertise to improve, or possibly even to re-write, the site. If you feel that you can assist with this or other aspects of IT then please contact the secretary: bcra-secretary@bcra.org.uk
The next newsletter will be at the end of June 2025