ACTA CARSOLOGICA 36/3 – 2007 353 The institute be� ind t� is journal � as recently celebrated its 60 t� anniversary. Since 1947, w� en founded by t� e Slovene Academy of Sciences and Arts, t� e Institute � as gone t� roug� many c� anges, t� e team � as grown from few to more t� an twenty and is currently one of t� e larg- est institutes of Academy’s Scientific Researc� Centre. Karst researc� in most countries is distributed among different, mainly eart� science, departments of universities, institutes and museums. There are few „old“ karst institutes in t� e world, not surprisingly in Slovenia, Romania and C� ina, w� ere karst � as always posed many questions to t� e local population. Founding of new karst institutes around t� e globe (e.g. USA, Ukraine, Switzer- land, Croatia, Germany…) s� ows t� at t� e idea of joining karst researc� under „one roof “ is not at all outmoded. Instead of a general description of Institute´s work, let me introduce t� e insider’s story of t� e Karst Researc� Institute ZRC SAZU. There are 22 people working at t� e institute now. These are t� e people to w� om t� is essay is dedicated. We come from different backgrounds; we are ge- ologists, geograp� ers, c� emist, biologist, microbiologist and p� ysicist. Karst, as we know, is a very complex nat- ural, cultural and social p� enomenon. It is like a com- plex sculpture t� at needs different viewpoints to see t� e w� ole picture. That is w� y our diversity is good. As all of 60 y EARS OF KARST RESEARCH INSTITUTE ZRC SAZU: THE INSIDER’S STORy OF WHO IS WHO AT THE KARST RESEARCH INSTITUTE you working in interdisciplinary teams will agree, t� ere is also a weakness in suc� a diversity; sometimes differ- ent views do not merge toget� er. Thoug� it looks like t� at suc� team � as been “intel- ligently designed” it is not so, nor it is just a coincidence. We could say t� at t� e team � as continuously been sub- jected to t� e natural selection. So W� o is w� o at t� e institute, in a random order, starting wit� a � ead? Tadej Slabe � as been leading t� e Institute for more t� an a decade. As a geograp� er by training and top rock climber � e � as � eld to t� e fine structure of karst relief also in � is professional life. He � as devoted � is researc� to rock relief on karst surface and underground. He uses field studies combined wit� p� ysical models to study t� e formation of karst relief at different scales, from rillen- karren to t� e stone forests of Sout� C� ina karst. Andrej Kranjc, a geograp� er, also t� e editor-in- c� ief of AC � as (co)-aut� ored many regional karst stud- ies. His particular interest � ave been fluvial sediments in karst. In � is mature researc� period � e � as also fo- cused to t� e � istory of karst science, w� ic� � as a long and ric� tradition in Slovenia. Andrej is t� e initiator and director of t� e first postgraduate program in karstology at t� e University of Nova Gorica. He is a member of t� e Slovene Academy of Sciences and Arts. ACTA CARSOLOGICA 36/3 – 2007 354 For Andrej Mihevc, a geograp� er and a caver, t� e Institute was a logical c� oice. His researc� is very diverse, alt� oug� we could name � im a karst geomor- p� ologist and speleologist. To understand a truly com- plex morp� ogenesis and related speleogenesis of Slo- vene karst regions, � e uses different approac� es, from DEM surface analyses to field and laboratory studies of sediments in karst. He is also responsible t� at unroofed caves � ave come to t� e list of t� e classical karst features. Andrej is one of t� e best known field trip guides in karst community (and t� e worst for t� ose w� o want a dinner at 7 and bed at 9). Nadja Zupan Hajna, a geologist, studied t� e rela- tion between c� emical and mec� anical weat� ering in caves. But � er interest in karst reac� es is far broader. S� e studies cave minerals and particularly cave sediments. Toget� er wit� Andrej Mi� evc, Pavel Bosak and Peter Pruner s� e performed a broad palaeomagnetic study of cave sediments, w� ic� revealed a new timescale of mor- p� ogenesis and speleogenesis in some Slovene karst re- gions. Nadja is a current president of t� e Slovene Geo- logical Society, w� ic� s� e takes as a duty rat� er t� an an � onour. Slovenia lies in tectonically very active area, w� ere tectonics plays an important role in karst morp� ogen- esis and speleogenesis. To demonstrate t� is, Stanka Šebela, a geologist, � as done a detailed tectonic map- ping in several large cave systems, including Postojnska jama, Škocjanske jame and Predjama. As a part of t� e COST programme, s� e studies active tectonic processes in caves. S� e uses � ig� precision extensiometers to mea- sure s� ifts in selected faults. Apart from t� e continuous movements, records s� ow a larger s� ifts prior and dur- ing t� e major eart� quakes, w� ic� is in correspondence wit� records from Eastern Italy and Czec� republic. As a c� emist Janja Kogovšek is a natural c� oice for t� e leader of t� e Institute´s � ydroc� emistry lab. Karst waters are � er speciality. S� e � as performed and anal- ysed many tracing experiments in karst for applied and basic researc� . S� e studies flow and contaminant trans- port in t� e vadose zone of t� e karst aquifer. To t� is ex- tent s� e � as performed different tracing experiments in t� e vadose zone as well as continuous long-term study of c� emical and p� ysical parameters of different cave trickles. Metka Petrič is a � ydrogeologist studying t� e broad aspect of karst waters. Her doctoral researc� dealt wit� t� e linear system analysis of rec� arge-disc� arge rela- tions in karst aquifers. Nowadays Metka uses different � ydrological, � ydrogeological and � ydroc� emical tec� - niques to c� aracterise karst aquifers in order to protect it and/or to study t� e basic principles of flow and transport in karst. S� e is involved in planning and performance of tracing experiments and studies of groundwater vulner- ability. Martin Knez, a geologist, focuses to t� e relation between lit� ology and karstification. He studied t� e role of bedding planes in t� e speleogenesis of Škocjan Caves. He is involved in t� e study and protection of features re- vealed during t� e motorway constructions in karst and future planning of new railway lines t� roug� t� e karst. Toget� er wit� Tadej Slabe � e � as studied t� e role of li- t� ology and structure in t� e formation of several stone forests in C� ina. Tanja Pipan, a biologist, studies life in karst un- derground. Slovene karst is a � ot spot in underground biodiversity. Tanja’s main researc� topic � ave been cope- pod communities in t� e epikarst. S� e � as s� own � ow epikarst presents an important � abitat for t� e life on sub millimetre scale. Her researc� interest also includes t� e transport and abundance of nutrients in t� e karst in relation to t� e diversity of t� e cave biota. Tanja is also a Slovene co-ordinator of ILTER (International Long Term Ecological Researc� ) network. Janez Mulec is a microbiologist and t� erefore studies t� e life at its small scale. Many recent karstologi- cal studies � ave stressed t� e importance of micro-organ- isms in karst processes. Janez studies t� e occurrence of � eterotrop� ic bacteria, algae and protozoa in cave envi- ronments and t� eir role in active karst processes. Bojan Otoničar, a geologist, studies paleokarst, a karst w� ic� developed during some karstification periods in t� e past. Re-submerged and covered wit� sediments suc� karst � as become a part of a sedimen- tary record offering a wealt� of information about t� e regional settings to a sedimentologist and karstologist. Bojan focused � is researc� to t� e paleokarst of SW Slo- venia, a part of t� e Adriatic ¬carbonate platform w� ic� was exposed to karstification by meteoric waters due to emergence at t� e end of t� e Cretaceous and at t� e begin- ning of t� e Paleogene period. Nataša Ravbar, a geograp� er, � as recently become t� e first doctor in Karstology. Her doctoral t� esis deals wit� one of t� e most important practical issues in karst: karst groundwater vulnerability and protection. Nataša proposed a novel Slovene approac� towards mapping t� e vulnerability of karst aquifers. S� e successfully ap- plied it to a regional catc� ment in Slovenia. One of t� e institute´s mission is also to bring up new karstologists. Two of t� em are currently � eading towards t� eir P� D in Karstology. Geograp� er Mitja Prelovšek is performing a wide range study of corro- sion rates in epip� reatic zone of karst. To t� is extent � e � as installed more t� an 200 limestone tablets in 68 loca- tions. He is combining t� e weig� t loss met� od wit� � y- droc� emical studies in order to see w� at is really going ACTA CARSOLOGICA 36/3 – 2007 355 on in t� e cave rivers. Geologist Janez Turk is also focus- ing to t� e active cave flow, i.e. t� e eprip� reatic zone. He studies t� e � ydraulic of underground c� annels. For t� is � e � as installed a series of level-temperature loggers into selected caves wit� active flow, to obtain a dense time series w� ic� � e analyses and interprets wit� different classical and novel met� ods. The aut� or of t� is essay is a p� ysicist and a caver. His main researc� fields emerged from � is doctoral studies wit� Wolfgang Dreybrodt in Bremen. He is in- volved in computer modelling of early speleogenesis. He � as developed several computer models based on basic p� ysical and c� emical principles, to simulate t� e growt� of initial c� annels in karst aquifers in different settings. He also studies nature and dynamics of ot� er karst processes like condensation in caves, � ydraulics of large conduits, rillenkaren development etc. Alt� oug� � is caving career is in (� opefully temporary) decline, � e still keeps interest in alpine karst. The researc� would not be possible wit� out t� e support of t� e rest of t� e team: a secretary Sonja Stamenković, w� o keeps all formal t� ings running, Maja Kranjc, w� o is maintaining one of t� e world´s best karstological libraries, Mateja Zadel, w� o takes care for t� e c� emical analyses, Jure Hajna, Leon Drame and Franjo Drole, w� o are giving t� e tec� nical support to researc� teams and Slavica Sušak, w� o keeps t� e building tidy. Institute´s co-workers are aware of responsibility of being a part of a central karstological institution. There- fore, we often „forget“ our particular researc� interests and join our forces in organising International Karsto- logical Sc� ool (16 so far), performing applied studies in groundwater and nature protection in karst, advising t� e management of s� ow caves, managing t� e Slovene Cave cadastre toget� er wit� t� e Slovene Speleological Asso- ciation, teac� ing students at different Universities about karst, tuning t� e postgraduate sc� ool in karstology at t� e University of Nova Gorica etc. In 60 years t� e Institute � as become one of t� e cen- tres of karst researc� , establis� ing close collaborations wit� many outstanding researc� ers around t� e world. Some of t� ese � ave � ad so tig� t collaborations wit� t� e Institute t� at we consider t� em (also formally) as ad- joined co-workers. These are Trevor Shaw and David J. Lowe from England, Pavel Bosak from Czec� Republic and Wolfgang Dreybrodt from Germany. Franci Gabrovšek Co-Editor