Contact: Kenneth Billings
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A Mississippi State geology professor who has earned international recognition for his scientific study of caves and landforms recently received the Honorary Member Award from the National Speleological Society.
John Mylroie, who has been a faculty member at MSU since 1985, received the award last month at the group's annual meeting in Lake City, Fla. It is the highest honor presented by the 67-year-old organization, which represents 12,000 members from the United States, two territories and 46 foreign countries.
The society is dedicated to the exploration, mapping and scientific study of caves and karst (a term referring to landforms developed in and on soluble rock).
Mylroie's early research focused on the glaciated regions in New York and Norway, specifically the hydrology of cave systems operating adjacent to and under glaciers and ice fields.
Subsequently, he expanded his work to carbonate, or limestone, islands in tropical regions. That research has focused on understanding the impact of sea level fluctuation on cave development resulting from climactic change during the Ice Ages.
In presenting the award, Arthur Palmer of the NSS noted that Mylroie's "models of carbonate island karst are the worldwide standard."
Mylroie also has earned the society's Science Award for lifetime achievement in scientific research involving karst. In 2007, the Karst Waters Institute, a Virginia-based nonprofit research group, included Mylroie's work in their "Benchmark Papers in Karst Science," representing 40 of the most influential papers in karst science during the latter half of the 20th century.
His continuing research provided assistance in petroleum exploration and recovery, water resources in island nations and interpretation of paleoclimate information preserved in caves.
With his wife Joan, an MSU geography instructor, he has conducted island karst research in Slovenia, Croatia, New Zealand, Australia, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marinara Islands, and the Bahamas. During MSU's winter break, he annually leads a student field course to the Gerace Research Centre on San Salvador Island, Bahamas.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.