With more than 10,000 caves in Tennessee and its majority located along the Cumberland Plateau, the National Speleological Society saw no better fit than Cookeville to take their next national convention underground, taking place June 17-22, 2019.
Tennessee has not served as host for the annual NSS Convention in 21 years, since hosted in Sewanee in 1998.
With most of the expected 1,500 attendees staying in Cookeville, the group plans to explore caves throughout the Upper Cumberland with educational and scientific presentations being conducted at Cookeville High School, as well as on the campus of Tennessee Tech University.
NSS leadership began coordinating the convention with the Cookeville-Putnam County Visitors’ Bureau in April 2017, even prior to the organization’s official selection of Tennessee as home to the 2019 event. The visitors’ bureau offered lodging options, connections with local stakeholders, e.g. city, county, and university officials, as well as recommendations for additional itinerary activities outside of the educational and caving opportunities.
“The NSS chose Cookeville for our 2019 Convention due to its proximity to some of the best caving in the world,” said 2019 NSS Convention Chair Maureen Handler. “Cookeville offers all of the facilities needed to host up to 1,500 cavers for the week of convention. The wonderful small town, welcoming feel ensures that all of our participants will experience all that Cookeville and the area have to offer.”
“Our convention offers the opportunity for our members to present their science, exploration and education initiatives to the membership. We are excited to call Cookeville our home for a week.”
Areas of focus for the NSS include promoting safe and responsible caving practices, effective cave and karst management, speleology, and conservation. Educational sessions and presentations will feature domestic and international cave exploration, the use of geological and biological science and other new technologies in cave exploration and study as well as a special session on Tennessee caves: “Land of 10,000 Caves.”
“With thousands of caves within a 50-mile radius of downtown Cookeville, we are certain these guests will find our community to be one of the best in the world for cave exploration,” said Cookeville Mayor Ricky Shelton.
“We are very excited to host the NSS National Convention in Putnam County,” said Putnam County Executive Randy Porter. “This is a unique and interesting group to host, one that can truly appreciate all our natural resources including our great caves, waterfalls and parks. NSS has a great history of helping preserve natural resources, and we are excited to welcome them.”
The NSS holds 10,000 members and 250 grottos (chapters) and is the largest organization in the world working every day to further the exploration, study, and protection of caves and their environments, and foster fellowship among cavers.