Research
Karst Waters Institute
A US non-profit research institute whose mission is to improve the fundamental understanding of karst water systems through small interdisciplinary conferences, publications, awards and public education.
The Karst Waters Institute describes itself as a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to improve understanding of karst water systems among professionals and the public. It is run by a board of directors, has no membership, and works by initiating and coordinating research, sponsoring conferences and workshops and publishing scientific works; it does not give grants directly to individual researchers [1].
Its stated goals are to hold small conferences that advance karst science, to recognise outstanding research through the KWI Karst Award and a book series, to support graduate students through the Wilson scholarship, and to provide public educational material about karst, caves, sinkholes and karst groundwater. In 2026 it ran a webinar series on topics including subterranean biodiversity and groundwater storage in karst [1][2]. KWI is a useful entry point for divers who want the scientific literature behind the caves they visit rather than a diving organisation.
Further reading
Groundwater, haloclines and water quality in flooded caves
How underwater caves form: karst, dissolution and drowned passages
Life in flooded caves: stygofauna, remipedes and the diver's footprint
Eogenetic karst from the perspective of an equivalent porous medium ↗
Karst Information Portal (KIP) Articles collection ↗
Every fact on this page, with its source (2)
| Fact | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| KWI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to improve the fundamental understanding of karst water systems for professionals and the public. | Verified | [1] |
| KWI is governed by a board of directors, has no memberships and does not fund individual researchers directly. | Verified | [1] |
Verified: stated by an official or primary source we opened. Reported: from a secondary source only. Sources conflict: the note gives both versions. May be out of date: the newest source we found is old.
Written in our own words from the sources above. Report a correction