BCRA NEWSLETTER APRIL 2025
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In this newsletter
• BCRA online seminars
• BCRA Special Interest Groups
• BCRA Special Interest Archaeology Group
• CREG field meeting and publication
• Cave and Karst Science
• BCRA Science Symposium 2025
• Hidden Earth 2025 Update
• Bid for 2029 UIS Congress
• BCRA Membership
• Next Council Meeting
• Supporting BCRA
BCRA online seminar 14th April 2025Palaeontological Perspectives on Caving in Thailand
With: Spyridoula Pappa, Senior Curator of Fossil Mammals, Natural History Museum
Time: Mon 14-Apr 2025, 19:30 to 21:00 BST.
To Watch: see Joining via Zoom.
If you want to know more about caves and fossil mammal remains from Mae Hong Son Province, in north-western Thailand, then join me for this talk where I am going to share everything from my most recent research fieldwork in Thailand, in January 2024.
One of the most interesting and important sites that I visited was Tham Lod rock shelter where I sampled teeth from Eld's deer. Tham Lod is a magnificent and famous cave and a well-stratified archaeological site, where more than 100,000 archaeological items were unearthed during previous excavations. I and my NERC DTP PhD student Laura Hemmingham have had the opportunity to collect samples of over 200 fossil deer teeth, excavated from several Thailand caves and open sites.
Through the Eld's deer project we studied the diet of Pleistocene deer in relation to climate using the methods of dental wear analysis (DWA), mesowear and species distribution models. My research focuses on palaeoecology of the Quaternary and I am analysing tooth material to understand what these animals ate during the Ice Age and how they responded to environmental and ecological changes.
I started caving in 2002 and have participated in multiple caving expeditions with the Hellenic Speleological Society and with speleologists from Vienna University. I completed my undergraduate degree in Geology, and my Masters degree in Palaeontology, in Greece. My PhD in Palaeontology was from Royal Holloway University of London. I moved to London in 2010 and since September 2015 I have been working as a curator in the Natural History Museum (NHMUK). I am responsible for fossil mammals (over 350,000 specimens from around the world). During this talk I will be also presenting tales and projects that I had the opportunity to work on from other European and UK cave sites.
BCRA Special Interest Groups
We have a number of special interest groups which you can find on the BCRA website including
Cave and Radio Electronics Group, Cave Surveying ,Explosives Users and Cave Biology . If you are interested in any of these groups, contact the named person on the BCRA website
BCRA Cave Archaeology Group Special Interest Group (CAG). This group has been on somewhat moribund for several years, with Linda Wilson serving as acting convenor in the absence of anyone prepared to lead and develop the group. The good news is that Ric Peterson from the University of Central Lancashire has volunteered to lead efforts to reinvigorate the group. He is currently in discussion with Linda and we expect to have more to report next month.
CREG (Cave and Radio Electronics Group) Field Meeting 17th-18th May 2025 Further details to be announced later . The latest publication from this group has been sent to members but is also available online on the BCRA website
Cave and Karst Science. The April issue has been delayed but the Editors have reported that there is now sufficient material to publish volume 52, part 1. However, we are still short of material if Cave and Karst is to continue as the BCRA’s main publication we need people to submit their research work/ photos / articles so that we can continue to publish on a regular basis. The Editors emphasise that one does not need to be a university academic in order to produce material suitable for publication and highlight the excellent paper by Davvid Eason and fellow SWCC members in the December 2024 issue.
2025 BCRA Science Symposium and AGM The.2025 science symposium and AGM will be held in the School of Geographical Sciences at Bristol University, hosted by Linda Wilson and Dave Richardson, on the weekend of 11/12 October 2025. The BCRA AGM will be held at lunchtime on the 11th of October . Field trips for the Sunday and accommodation are still being finalised.
2025 Hidden Earth Update The dates for Hidden Earth have been announced as 26th-28th September 2025. 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.
UIS (Union Internationale de Speleology) Congress Bid for 2029 Update. As reported in the March newsleter, the BCRA in conjunction with the BCA are putting together a bid in to host the 2029 International Congress of Speleology. The UIS hosts an International Congress of Speleology every four years and it is the world’s most significant gathering of cave and karst scientists, educators ,managers and explorers. The committee who are putting the bid together met for the first time on 22nd March and agreed that the venue will be the University of Birmingham. Bartek Biela and Lucy Hyde are leading on production of a publicity video that will be shown at the UIS General Assembly before country representatives vote on where to hold the congress. Several members have already offered support and anyone else who wishes to assist with the bid should contact the BCRA Chairman. Further information will follow if we are successful in our bid to host this prestigious event.
BCRA membership is via the BCA membership system. If you wish to join BCRA use the membership link on the website
The next council meeting will be held on the 9th of April 2025 via zoom 20.00 to 21.30 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
We would like support with our website . If you feel that you can assist, please contact the secretary: bcra-secretary@bcra.org.uk
The next newsletter will be at the start of May 2025