Patricia N. Kambesis

Patricia Kambesis (born November 7, 1952) 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). Kambesis coauthored the book Deep Secrets: The Discovers & Exploration of Lechuguilla Cave, which was first published in 1999. She has also authored, coauthored or otherwise contributed to numerous papers and articles on karst related subjects. Her work has been published by the National Speleological Society, Cave Research Foundation, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, International Union of Speleology, and Geological Society of America, among others.

Kambesis is a fellow of the National Speleological Society and Cave Research Foundation.

Biography 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. She would go on to earn a Masters of Science from Western Kentucky University and a Doctorate from Mississippi State University.

In 1974, Kambesis first became involved in the exploration and mapping of caves. 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. As of 2020, these honors include two Best of Salon Medals, eight Blue Ribbon Merit Awards and fifteen Green Ribbon Honorable Mentions. Starting in 1995, Kambesis often served as a judge for the Cartographic Salon.

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. 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. 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.

Outside of the mainland United States, Kambesis has worked on cave projects in China, Greece, Nigeria, Laos, Mexico, Haiti, Cuba, Puerto Rico and beyond. 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. 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.

Awards and honors

Exploration Award, Cave Diving Section - National Speleological Society (2015) National Speleological Society Cartographic Salon - Best of Salon Medal Wu Dong, Duyin County, China (1994) Exploring the Mechanisms and Consequences of Cave Roof Collapses Using the National Corvette Museum Sinkhole Case Study (2017) Lechuguilla Cave, New Mexico, U.S.A. (2012) Tham Khoun Xe - The Great Cave on the Xe Bang Fai River (2009) The Importance of Cave Exploration to Scientific Research (2007)