Upcoming Events
This is the Washburn CHAOS Lab mission tracker: fieldwork, conferences, outreach, public events, cave trips, scientific briefings, and the occasional descent into the underworld. If the lab is out doing feral science somewhere, chances are it ends up here. Want more information? Reach out at director@washburnchaoslab.com, follow @WashburnCHAOSLab on social media, or send us a message through the form here.
September 2026
9.08. Presentation: Graduate School of Biomedicines Alumni Roundtable
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX
Going back to TTUHSC to talk FERAL Science, cave microbes, bioactive discovery, and what happens when you give a biomedical scientist a Ph.D. and let her loose underground. If you're in the Lubbock area, stop by and come see what I've been up to.
9.09. Meeting: Louisville Grotto Meeting
Louisville, KY
Monthly meeting of the Louisville Grotto - our partners in chaos for cave studies! For more information, visit their website.
9.17. Presentation: SOPS Annual Research Symposium
HKRB, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
The Society of Postdoctoral Scholars Annual Research Symposium is where UK postdocs take over HKRB for a day and show off what we’ve been working on. I’ll be there with a poster and trying something new: the CHAOS Challenge. There’s a scavenger hunt hidden in my poster, and if you find everything, you earn an exclusive sticker. The poster will be up from 8 AM through the end of the conference, I’ll be lurking around it from 1:30–2:45 PM, and if you finish the challenge, find me by 3 PM and claim your sticker.
9.19. Event: Mothman Festival
Point Pleasant, WV
The Mothman Festival takes over Point Pleasant every year for a weekend of cryptids, paranormal everything, vendors, costumes, and one extremely famous winged cryptid. We’ll be there Saturday the 19th, so look for the Washburn CHAOS Lab and come talk cryptids with us.
9.24. Holiday: Bat-tholomew Day
Various locations
Bat-tholomew Day! Every September 24th we celebrate the tiny hallway bat who accidentally started all of this. Bats everywhere, bat-shaped food, bat outfits, and the corniest bat movie we can find. This is a completely legitimate lab holiday now and I will not be taking questions.
Connect with Us
at an Event
The Washburn CHAOS Lab Calendar includes a mix of lab activities, public events, conferences, conventions, partner organizations, and other opportunities we think our community may find interesting. Not every event is organized or operated by the lab.
This form is intended for event-related questions and information requests. Submitting it lets us know you're interested in an event and would like additional information. It does not register you for an event, reserve a spot, guarantee participation, schedule a meetup, or create an operational commitment on either side.
Looking for something more involved? If you're interested in inviting the lab to speak, participate in a panel, or visit, check out the Invite a Scientist page here. If you are interested in organizing a Citizen Science Experience, click here. If you are interested in participating in the Expedition Partner Program or discussing a formal partnership, click here.
director@washburnchaoslab.com
Washburn CHAOS Lab
Science is metal. Science is feral. Science is CHAOS.
director@washburnchaoslab.com
#washburnchaoslab
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complex host-abiotic systems
@washburnchaoslab
Feral scientists exploring hostile systems, unstable environments, and the chemistry shaping what survives there.