Upcoming Events

May 2026

5.16. BACA 100 Mile Ride, Rolling Hills Chapter

Northern Kentucky

If you see a long line of motorcycles and BACA back patches today, that is the Rolling Hills chapter of Bikers Against Child Abuse on their annual 100-mile awareness ride. The ride helps raise visibility for child abuse survivors and the services, advocacy, and support BACA provides for kids going through incredibly difficult situations.

5.21. Cigars & Cars

Covington, ky

Cigars & Cars returns to Covington, Kentucky with custom cars, motorcycles, cigars, live music, food, and enough engine noise to register on nearby seismic equipment. The Rolling Hills chapter of Bikers Against Child Abuse will also be on site, so keep an eye out for the BACA back patches and stop by to say hi.

5.19. Fieldwork: Sample Site Survey

LExington, KY

The Kentucky Geological Survey summer interns have officially entered the feral science phase of the program. This week, the Washburn CHAOS Lab will be doing sample site recon, revisiting active landslide systems from previous fieldwork, and teaching our newest intern how real-world field science actually works, which mostly involves helmets, mud, unstable slopes, sample bags, and asking increasingly concerning questions about rocks, microbes, and chemistry.

5.22 - 5.24. Speleofest

Lone star Preserve, ky

Speleofest returns with the Louisville Grotto for a weekend of caves, campfires, vertical gear, mud, questionable life choices, and people who think voluntarily crawling underground is a good time. Whether you are an experienced caver, cave-curious, or just want to learn more about the underground world, registration is still open and there is still time to join the adventure. Dr. Rachel Washburn of the Washburn CHAOS Lab will be the keynote speaker at the Saturday night banquet, and there is a very real possibility of a field trip involving actual feral science in a cave system. Check out the website for more info.

5.27. Fieldwork: Tufa Sample Collection

LExington, KY

We're heading back into the field with the Kentucky Geological Survey Potter Interns for another round of feral science, this time collecting tufa samples and continuing field training in real-world systems science. Tufa is a rapidly forming freshwater limestone created when water chemistry, atmosphere, microbes, and flowing water all start interacting in the same place, which means the interns get to watch geology, chemistry, and biology build rock together in real time while standing on muddy slopes carrying sample bags and increasingly suspicious amounts of field equipment.

June 2026

6.2. Kentucky Geological Survey Annual Meeting

Lexington, KY

The Kentucky Geological Survey Annual Seminar is back this year under the theme “Powering Kentucky’s Future,” bringing together geologists, researchers, and industry scientists to talk energy systems, emerging technology, subsurface resources, monitoring, and what happens when humanity starts aggressively interrogating the crust for new fuel sources. The geological hydrogen workshop will include core samples, borehole logs, exploration concepts, and a room full of rock people trying to determine whether Earth has been hiding hydrogen in the basement this whole time.

6.10. Louisville Grotto Meeting

Louisville, KY

Monthly meeting of the Louisville Grotto - our partners in chaos for cave studies! For more information, visit their website.

6.6 - 6.11. American Association of State Geologists Meeting

Harrisonburg, West Virginia

The American Association of State Geologists meeting brings together state geological surveys and geoscientists from across the country to talk rocks, resources, hazards, mapping, subsurface systems, and the increasingly complicated ways the planet likes to behave. Dr. Alex Washburn, CONAN Research Division Head at the Washburn CHAOS Lab, will be attending to participate in the geological chaos and professionally interrogate Earth systems with other rock gremlins.

6.12 - 6.14. Karst-O-Rama

Great Saltpeter Preserve, ky

Karst-O-Rama returns for another weekend of caves, geology, muddy boots, questionable underground decision-making, and people who voluntarily disappear into holes in the ground for fun. Hosted by the National Speleological Society, the event brings together cavers, geologists, cave scientists, and underground enthusiasts for cave trips, field activities, education, and community built around the beautifully unstable world beneath our feet. Check out their website for more info!

6.15. Fieldwork: Cave Sampling

Horse Cave, KY

The Washburn CHAOS Lab will be descending back into the underworld at Hidden River Cave for another round of feral systems science. This trip will revisit previously sampled recovery zones while also pushing back into sections of the cave still heavily impacted by historical contamination, giving the lab a chance to compare how biology, chemistry, atmosphere, and microbial communities behave across systems recovering at very different stages. Expect mud, helmets, sample bags, questionable cave air, and scientists asking increasingly concerning questions underground.