I would be honored if you helped me with my PhD research. One of my studies is to evaluate the sampling of speleothems for past climate (paleoclimate) research. I am asking cavers, cave owners, cave managers, cave scientists, and anyone else that enjoys, explores, or studies caves to take the survey for my research (more details below the dotted line). I located your email on the Federation Speleologique Europeenne directory. If you are not the correct contact person for your organization, please let me know.
Please take the survey, and if you feel it is appropriate, please forward it. Taking the survey allows you to enter into a drawing for one of seven $100 gift cards to Amazon or a cave gear website of your choice.
The link is here: https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6llZGoHoNyBTCsJ
The survey will remain open until April 30, 2014.
More details are below. Many thanks in advance for your time!
Sincerely,
Sarah
NSS # 61563
(apologies for any cross postings)
(at this time the survey is only available in English)
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Speleothem Sampling Methods Survey
https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6llZGoHoNyBTCsJ
This survey is for cavers, cave owners, cave managers, and cave scientists other than paleoclimate scientists to gather a variety of opinions about paleoclimate research and how it impacts caves. Paleoclimate scientists were surveyed earlier to produce a list of current research practices, which was used to build this survey.
Paleoclimate--or past climate--research uses the chemistry and mineralogy of speleothems to reconstruct past climate, temperature, rainfall, etc. Stalagmites are one of the best sources of this information, especially where other sources (like lakes, trees, ice cores, and ocean sediments) don't exist.
Sampling stalagmites for this type of research requires looking along the growth axis, down the center of the speleothem. Generally, this means the stalagmite must be sliced open and measured down the middle. Many scientists are trying to minimize their impact on caves while doing this sampling, but as a community of cave stakeholders, we can do better.
Taking this survey is the first step to initiating a community-wide discussion between paleoclimate scientists and other cave stakeholders, including recreational cavers, cave managers, cave owners, and other cave scientists. The goal of this discussion is to emerge with a set of current "best practice" guidelines for scientists and managers to be able to pursue valuable past climate information while conserving valuable cave resources.
Your participation in this survey is voluntary. You may stop at any time.
This survey is anonymous.
There are no risks to participating in this survey.
The survey will take from 30-60 minutes.
At the end, you will be asked if you would like to enter your contact information for a drawing for one of seven $100 gift cards to a vendor of your choice. Your contact information is stored separately from your survey responses.
For ease of use, please take the survey on a computer or tablet rather than a mobile phone.
Thank you for your participation in this survey. If you have any questions during the survey, or have any problems taking the survey, please feel free to contact researcher Sarah Truebe (struebe@arizona.edu).
Take the survey here: https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6llZGoHoNyBTCsJ
Thank you for your time and participation!
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Sarah A Truebe
PhD Candidate
Dept of Geosciences, University of Arizona
office: Gould-Simpson Bldg, Rm. 350
phone: 650-804-5413
http://u.arizona.edu/~struebe
