Tumbling Rock Cave, The Living Laboratory

Name: Tumbling Rock Cave, The Living Laboratory
Start: 2025-09-06T18:00:00-04:00
End: 2025-09-06T21:00:00-04:00
Location: Tellus Science Museum

Schedule

Sat Sep 06 2025 at 06:00 pm to 09:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

Tellus Science Museum | Cartersville, GA

Tickets are now available for SCCi's 2025 Annual Distinguished Lecturer event featuring Dr. Todd Rasmussen, Professor Emeritus, University of Georgia.
The Distinguished Lecturer event aims to bring the most current research by cave and karst experts to the public and expand common knowledge of the role caves play in our understanding of subsurface hydrology, ecology, and history. SCCi partners with research institutions and scientists at the top of their field to further education about cave conservation topics across disciplines. Topics have included pre-contact Native American art, novel mechanisms of speleogenesis, and global bat conservation efforts. Lectures are suitable for those in academia or enthusiasts curious to learn more.
This year, Dr. Rasmussen will share his decades of research done at Tumbling Rock Cave in Jackson County Alabama. His research has covered fluid flow and contaminant transport through surface and subsurface environments, focusing on the physical, chemical, mathematical, and statistical description and quantification of hydrologic processes. Post lecture, there will be a VIP reception with Dr. Rasmussen. There are discounted tickets available for current students.
Thank you to our presenting sponsor, The National Speleological Society whose support makes this annual event possible. The VIP Reception post lecture will be sponsored by Dogwood City Grotto.
Tellus Science Museum
Cartersville, GA
September 6, 2025

Doors: 5:00 pm
Lecture: 6:00 pm
VIP Reception: 7:30 pm
All times are EDT

VIP tickets include up front premium seating, admission to a VIP Reception with Dr. Rasmussen, beverage tokens, and light hor d'oeuvres.
All tickets include access to Tellus Science Museum galleries from 10 am to 9 pm.
SCCi Members receive a discount for General or VIP Admission.
Dr. Rasmussen's Bio:
Todd started caving in the 1960s while in High School in Northern California, first in the limestone around Lake Shasta and then lava tubes near Lassen Park and Lava Beds. After college, he worked as a Wilderness Guard for the US Forest Service in the Marble Mountains of Northern California, where he met up with cavers led by Steve Knutson that were exploring the alpine Bigfoot/Meat Grinder Cave System in 1976, which became the deepest cave in the US.
Todd then spent almost three years in the Peace Corps in Honduras (1976-79), which exposed him to the great tropical caves of Central America. He then helped Steve Knutson and other US and European cavers navigate the dicey politics of traveling (and caving) in Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, which were published in the NSS News.
Todd then discovered the wonderful TAG caves after moving to the University of Georgia as a hydrology professor in 1992. He routinely took his classes to explore these awesome gateways to the underworld. His caving activities became even more active during COVID when the university switched to online instruction, with Tumbling Rock Cave becoming his new podium because of SCCI's high-speed internet.
Students quickly found that camping, caving, and taking classes at "The Cave" was much more stimulating than sitting at home alone for two years. Students found an opportunity to bond with other students, apply what they're learning in their other classes, and generally having the time of their lives. Todd helped them set up research projects based on their personal interests (geology, hydrology, atmospheric sciences, public health, fish and wildlife, public health, engineering, and much more), and stoked their passion for exploring the unknown.
His mission has been to help the next generation of cavers find the excitement and curiosity that he had when he first discovered this incredible subterranean world.