A New Blog on Subterranean Biology

Welcome to the Cave Bio-Blog. I have long wanted to create a blog dedicated to science, conservation, and public outreach related to the unique, amazing, and often imperiled biodiversity that can be found in caves and other subterranean habitats. However, it wasn't until a prod by postdoctoral advisor, Dr. Thomas Near at Yale University, that I finally decided to pull the trigger, so to speak, on this blog's conception. Tom has a very interesting and insightful blog on fish phylogenetics (visit fishphylogenetics.blogspot.com).

Tennessee Cave Crayfish (Orconectes incomptus).

This blog will provide a forum to highlight current research from my research group as well as the work of my colleagues. In addition, it will provide a venue for other cave biologists and researchers to share insights about their studies. While my research to date has largely focused on the phylogenetics and evolutionary ecology of cave organisms, the Cave Bio-Blog will feature an assortment of topics ranging from the discovery of new species to neurobiology of nonvisual sensory modalities (don't worry if you don't know what that means yet) to endangered species profiles and conservation to the importance of subterranean organisms. All will be welcome to comment and review contributions made by my research group and by other researchers and to express their own thoughts and opinions.

My goal is that this blog will be a useful resource and forum for not only research scientists like myself but also cavers, amateur cave biologists, and the general public. I will try to post as often as my time allows. In addition, I intend to have my colleagues make guest contributions on a regular basis. I look forward to learning about the fascinating biota beneath our feet and interacting with all the readers of the blog.