KWI Conduit

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Volume VIII, Number 1

Spring 2000

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The second annual Karst Waters Institute Award Dinner  was held at the Claymont Court near Charles Town, West Virginia, at 6:30 PM on Saturday, March 4, 2000.  Dr. Yager was the guest of honor and she presented a brief slide show and talk after the dinner.

Dr. Yager has been exploring and studying submerged caves for over 20 years.  She began cave diving in the Bahamas where she discovered a new class of crustacean which she named the Remipedia.  She studied remipedes for her doctoral dissertation under Professor John Holsinger at Old Dominion University.  Her research deals with the ecology of submerged caves, studying the physical environment and community of animals that live there.  Her research has taken her to the beautiful and highly endangered caves in Quintana Roo, Mexico, and sites throughout the Carribean.  Dr. Yager has appeared in several educational television programs.  In August she and cave biologist Abel Perez were filmed in Cuba for a new National Geographic television program called "Sea Secrets".  Dr. Yager is an associate professor in the Environmental and Biological Sciences Department of Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio.  Dr. Yager presented a talk (with slides) during the dinner entitled "Submerged Caves:  Ecology and Conservation".

Claymont Court, the location of the Award Dinner, is one of the most splendid early nineteenth century mansions in the country.  Fashioned after a design by George Washington, Claymont was built by his grand-nephew, Bushrod Washington, in 1820.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and now serves as a setting for meetings, conferences, and retreats.  The house is set on almost 400 acres of farmland and forest in Jefferson County, West Virginia, in the northern Shenandoah Valley.  Original oak paneling, crystal chandeliers, and other architectural details have been beautifully preserved.  An evening at Claymont is a unique opportunity to see one of the finest Washington family mansions.

KWI Conduit
(c) 2000 Karst Waters Institute