John Alan Glennon (born September 24, 1970) is an American

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

and

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

. His work has been mapping and describing

caves A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

and

geysers A geyser (, ) is a spring characterized by an intermittent discharge of water ejected turbulently and accompanied by steam. As a fairly rare phenomenon, the formation of geysers is due to particular hydrogeological conditions that exist only in ...

Discoveries and research

Caves

In 1996, Glennon and Jon Jasper discovered an entrance to the Martin Ridge Cave System,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, and explored connections to nearby Jackpot and Whigpistle Caves (Groves, C.G. 1998). The combined

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

system is long (Gulden, B. 2005). The

is hydrologically connected to

Mammoth Cave Mammoth Cave National Park is an American national park in west-central Kentucky, encompassing portions of Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system known in the world. Since the 1972 unification of Mammoth Cave with the even-longer system under F ...

---the world's longest

(Quinlan J.F. and Ray, J. 1989). Glennon also was involved in the discovery of one of the largest

chambers in

(Yonker, R. 2003).

Geysers

In 2002, Glennon led an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

expedition to El Tatio Geyser Field,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. The team produced the first comprehensive inventory and description of the geysers' behaviors. The resulting report concluded that the site was the world's third largest geyser field (Glennon, J.A. and Pfaff, R.M. 2003).

Hoffman Environmental Research Institute (HERI)

With Dr. Chris Groves, president of the Cave Research Foundation (2004-2006), Glennon cofounded HERI in 1999. The Institute's mission is to study the

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

and geologic aspects of

and karst landscapes. Headquartered at

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtow ...

, HERI's major scientific focus has been on the karst issues of China.

Background

Glennon was a

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

student of Dr.

Michael Frank Goodchild Michael Frank Goodchild (born February 24, 1944) is a British-American geographer. He is an Emeritus Professor of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara. After nineteen years at the University of Western Ontario, including th ...

at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

and received his PhD in 2013. Goodchild is a pioneer in Geographic Information Science and discoverer of Castleguard Cave, Canada's longest

. Glennon received a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

Geoscience Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four sphere ...

from

, 2001, and

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

in Park Administration from

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, 1994. For his cave discoveries in Kentucky, Alan has been commissioned in the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels.

Works authored

*Glennon, J.A., Pfaff, R.M. (2005). ''The operation and geography of carbon-dioxide-driven, cold-water geysers'', GOSA Transactions, vol. 9, pp. 184–192. *Glennon, J.A., Pfaff, R.M. (2003). ''The extraordinary thermal activity of El Tatio Geyser Field, Antofagasta Region, Chile'', GOSA Transactions, vol 8. pp. 31–78. *Glennon, J.A. (2001). Application of Morphometric Relationships to Active Flow Networks within the Mammoth Cave Watershed, M.Sc. Thesis, Bowling Green: Western Kentucky University, 87 p (''includes a description of the discovery of Martin Ridge Cave''). *Gulden, B. (2005). ''USA longest caves''. National Speleological Society GEO2 Committee.
web
. *Groves C.G. (1998). ''The Martin Ridge Cave System'', Cave Research Foundation Newsletter. *Quinlan, J. F. and Ray, J. (1989). ''Map of groundwater basins, surface drainage, major caves, flow routes, the potentiometric surface, and an index to the topographic maps in the Mammoth Cave Region south of the Green River'', 2nd edition. Friends of the Karst, Mammoth Cave, KY.

Articles

Kentucky Living Magazine: Underground Rock StarsWestern Scholar Magazine: Underworld Explorer

External links

Geyser Observation and Study AssociationHoffman Environmental Research InstituteAlan Glennon's personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glennon, John Alan 1970 births Living people American explorers American geographers American cavers American speleologists Western Kentucky University alumni