Frequently Asked Questions
The questions we get asked
(and some we wish people would start asking).
What does CHAOS stand for?
CHAOS stands for:
Complex Host And abiOtic Systems
Which is the scientific way of saying nature is one giant interconnected disaster scene and we want to know what the microbes are doing about it.
The name reflects how the Washburn CHAOS Lab approaches science: not as isolated categories, but as connected systems where biology, chemistry, geology, atmosphere, and environmental pressures constantly interact.
Basically: systems under pressure, weird biology, and the chemistry that comes out of it.
What kind of systems does the Washburn CHAOS Lab study?
A little bit of everything, honestly.
The Washburn CHAOS Lab studies caves, groundwater systems, contaminated landscapes, biocrusts, built environments, subsurface systems, recovering ecosystems, stable ecosystems, and other real-world systems where biology, chemistry, geology, and atmosphere all start colliding at the same time.
Some systems are extreme. Some are stable. Some are heavily impacted by people. Some are quietly doing their thing until somebody notices glowing water, weird biofilms, mystery slime, collapsing ecosystems, or chemistry that feels vaguely illegal.
We are especially interested in systems under pressure, systems recovering from disturbance, and systems that do not behave as neatly as textbooks would prefer. Because real-world systems are messy. Water moves. Microbes adapt. Chemistry reacts. Landscapes change. Organisms compete. Everything influences everything else all at once.
Basically: if a place looks scientifically questionable, biologically weird, geologically interesting, or like it belongs in a horror movie narrated by David Attenborough, we are probably interested in it.
What is biomedical geoscience?
Biomedical geoscience is what happens when biology stops pretending it lives in a pristine laboratory and gets dropped directly into the real world.
At the Washburn CHAOS Lab, the biomedical side is microbiology, infectious disease systems, genetics, metabolomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, bioactive compounds, and all the deeply unhinged chemistry organisms produce while trying to survive, compete, communicate, mutate, defend territory, or chemically throw hands with each other.
The geoscience side is the system those organisms are trapped inside: caves, groundwater, minerals, atmosphere, contamination, climate, pressure, built environments, mud, rock, weird water chemistry, and every other environmental condition trying to make life more difficult.
The biomedical side asks: What are the organisms doing biologically and chemically?
The geoscience side asks: What kind of geological and chemical nightmare are they doing it in?
The Washburn CHAOS Lab combines both because microbes do not exist in a vacuum. They exist in real systems where chemistry, geology, atmosphere, water, and biology are all colliding at the same time.
And when that happens, microbes start doing weird things.
Sometimes they help ecosystems recover. Sometimes they spread disease. Sometimes they produce compounds that could become medicine. Sometimes they start freelancing chemistry like a death metal version of Breaking Bad.
That is the kind of chaos we study.
Can the public participate in you science?
Absolutely.
The Washburn CHAOS Lab was built around the idea that science should not feel like a locked room full of experts quietly hoarding cave mud and sequencing data while the rest of the world stares through the window.
Community participation is a major part of the lab ecosystem because the people living in, protecting, exploring, restoring, and interacting with these systems often have just as much investment in them as the scientists studying them.
That can include:
site submissions
citizen science
outreach events
educational programs
workshops
field participation opportunities
sponsored projects
science communication initiatives
community-supported research
occasionally yelling “HEY THIS WATER LOOKS SCIENTIFICALLY QUESTIONABLE” and accidentally launching a new project
Some of the best scientific questions do not start in a laboratory. They start with, “Uh…is this supposed to be doing that?” That kind of curiosity is basically the natural habitat of the Washburn CHAOS Lab.
Science works best when people can actively participate in discovery instead of only hearing about it years later through a paywalled paper with twelve supplemental PDFs and emotional damage hidden in the statistics section.
Why is outreach and science communication such a major part of the lab?
Because science belongs to way more people than academia sometimes acts like it does.
The Washburn CHAOS Lab believes the people living in, protecting, restoring, guiding, and interacting with these systems deserve to be part of the discovery happening inside them. A cave owner, restoration volunteer, park ranger, student, field guide, curious kid, or random person on the internet asking scientifically questionable questions at 2 AM can all have a real stake in the science. And honestly? Science deserves better than the reputation it has somehow managed to build for itself.
A lot of people grow up thinking science is only for “genius” people in white lab coats who naturally understand quantum physics at age six and drink black coffee while judging everyone else’s statistics. Meanwhile actual science is mostly:
asking weird questions
breaking things
testing ideas
getting confused
making mistakes
arguing with Excel
accidentally discovering something horrifying in cave mud
and trying again with slightly better notes
Science is not a secret club for people born knowing the answers. It is curiosity weaponized into a process.
The Washburn CHAOS Lab treats outreach, media, education, public engagement, and science communication as part of the scientific mission itself. We want people to see science as something alive, collaborative, creative, muddy, occasionally unhinged, and genuinely exciting instead of something locked behind jargon, paywalls, and institutional walls.
Because science is not supposed to be sterile. It is hands-on, chaotic, frustrating, fascinating, loud, weird, and deeply human. Basically: feral Ms. Frizzle with sequencing data and concerning amounts of caffeine.
What exactly is the Washburn CHAOS Lab?
The Washburn CHAOS Lab is an interdisciplinary biomedical geoscience research and outreach organization focused on real-world systems. We are based out of the Kentucky Geological Survey at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky, USA.
We study how microbes, chemistry, geology, atmospheric conditions interact across caves, contaminated landscapes, built environments, biocrusts, subsurface systems, and other biologically active places where things get scientifically interesting.
The lab combines fieldwork, microbiology, geochemistry, metabolomics, environmental systems science, science communication, and public engagement into one connected ecosystem. Around here, research, outreach, media, collaboration, and field operations are all part of the same mission.
Science should not live only behind institutional walls.
How can I collaborate with or work with the Washburn CHAOS Lab?
The Washburn CHAOS Lab collaborates with researchers, students, landowners, parks, agencies, nonprofits, educators, artists, media creators, conservation groups, and community organizations that enjoy asking difficult scientific questions and occasionally crawling into places with concerning air quality.
Collaborations can include:
fieldwork and sampling
environmental and systems analysis
microbiology and geohealth projects
outreach events and workshops
science communication
educational programming
consulting
media and creative projects
site access partnerships
community science initiatives
interdisciplinary projects that started as “hey, I have a weird question”
The lab was built to be flexible, collaborative, and connected to real-world systems instead of trapped inside a single discipline pretending the others do not exist.
If you want to collaborate, work with the lab, volunteer, support projects, ask questions, or pitch an idea, reach out. You can contact the Washburn CHAOS Lab through:
The contact form on the website
Social media: @washburnchaoslab
Scientifically questionable ideas welcome.
What is "feral science"?
Feral science is what happens when rigorous systems science escapes the sterile little enclosure it was built in and immediately sprints into the woods carrying a sampling kit and three new research questions.
At the Washburn CHAOS Lab, feral science means:
hands-on fieldwork
interdisciplinary thinking
public engagement
asking weird questions
following the data into strange places
getting muddy
making mistakes
learning publicly
treating science as something alive, collaborative, chaotic, and deeply human
It is science that leaves the lab and collides directly with the real world.
Because real systems are not clean. They are messy, loud, interconnected, chemically chaotic, biologically competitive, constantly changing, and occasionally held together by microbial spite. Feral science means embracing that reality instead of pretending nature behaves like a perfectly organized PowerPoint presentation.
Basically: field science with metal playlists, muddy boots, and enough curiosity to accidentally create three additional projects while trying to answer the first question.
Can I support or fund Washburn CHAOS Lab research?
Yes please!
The Washburn CHAOS Lab is built around community-connected science, and public support plays a major role in helping the lab continue research, outreach, fieldwork, student opportunities, educational programs, and science communication projects.
Support can include:
sponsoring research sites
funding fieldwork or outreach
educational program support
student and researcher sponsorships
collaborative projects
commissioned science communication content
equipment and supply support
community science initiatives
general project sponsorships
aggressively enabling scientists with concerning levels of curiosity
The goal is to build a scientific ecosystem where communities can actively participate in discovery instead of only hearing about the results years later.
If you are interested in supporting the Washburn CHAOS Lab, reach out through the website contact form, email director@washburnchaoslab.com, or connect through @washburnchaoslab on social media.