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]
Awards and honors
Exploration Award, Cave Diving Section - National Speleological Society (2015)[13]
PhD. Research Fellowship - Cave Research Foundation (2011)[13]
National Speleological Society Research Award (2004)[13]
Master of Science Research Fellowship – Cave Research Foundation (2003)[13]
^Campion, Ged; Harrison, Tony (August 2014). "China Caves"(PDF). Cave and Karst Science. 41 (2). Retrieved 2021-03-24 – via British Cave Research Association.
