Patricia Kambesis (born November 7, 1952)[1][2] is an American caver, cartographer and educator.
Kambesis is a professor at Western Kentucky University, instructing students the fields of geography and geographic information systems (GIS).[3] Kambesis coauthored the book Deep Secrets: The Discovers & Exploration of Lechuguilla Cave, which was first published in 1999.[4] She has also authored, coauthored or otherwise contributed to numerous papers and articles on karst related subjects.[5] Her work has been published by the National Speleological Society,[6] Cave Research Foundation, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars,[7] International Congress of Speleology,[8][9][10] and Geological Society of America,[11] among others.
Kambesis is a fellow of the National Speleological Society and Cave Research Foundation.[12]
Growing up in Chicago, Illinois, Kambesis attained a Bachelor's of Science in biology from the University of Illinois followed by a Bachelor's of Science in geology from Southern Illinois University.[13] She would go on to earn a Masters of Science from Western Kentucky University and a Doctorate from Mississippi State University.[14]
In 1974, Kambesis first became involved in the exploration and mapping of caves.[15] Since then, she has received a number of honors from the National Speleological Society's Cartographic Salon, a competition held at the society's annual convention dedicated to highlighting achievements in cave cartography.[16] As of 2020, these honors include two Best of Salon Medals, eight Blue Ribbon Merit Awards and fifteen Green Ribbon Honorable Mentions.[17][18][19][20][21][22] Starting in 1995, Kambesis often served as a judge for the Cartographic Salon.[17] In 2017, Kambesis attended the International Congress of Speleology in Australia along with other staff and students from Western Kentucky University. At the event's Cartographic Salon, Kambesis received a First Place prize & Best of Show award for her map of Barrel Cave in Jackson County, Alabama.[23]
Kambesis has been active in both national and international caving circles. She was one of the first people to enter the "Chandelier Ballroom" in Lechuguilla Cave, New Mexico.[15] Her involvement in the exploration and mapping of Lechuguilla were subsequently recorded along with the recollections of other cavers in the book Deep Secrets: The Discovers & Exploration of Lechuguilla Cave.[24] When a sinkhole opened up beneath the National Corvette Museum in 2014, resulting in damage to eight cars, Kambesis was one of the cavers involved in exploring and mapping the sinkhole.[10][25] Kambesis has also been involved in exploration and surveying of caves in and around Mammoth Cave National Park through work with the Cave Research Foundation.[15][26]
Outside of the mainland United States, Kambesis has worked on cave projects in China, Greece, Nigeria, Laos, Mexico, Haiti, Cuba, Puerto Rico and beyond.[7][14][15][27] She has served as a Committee Chair of the National Speleological Society's International Exploration Committee and is the Cave Research Foundation's International Projects Chairperson.[28][29] Additionally, Kambesis has held the position of chief cartographer for the China Caves Project, a collaborative program jointly run by the Cave Research Foundation, Hoffman Environmental Research Institute, Karst Institute of China, and Guizhou Normal University.[15][30]