John Alan Glennon facts for kids

John Alan Glennon, born on September 24, 1970, is an American geographer and explorer. He is known for his exciting work mapping and describing caves and geysers around the world.

Exploring Caves and Geysers

Amazing Cave Discoveries

In 1996, John Glennon and Jon Jasper found a new entrance to the Martin Ridge Cave System in Kentucky. They explored how this system connected to other nearby caves like Jackpot and Whigpistle Caves. Together, this huge cave system stretches about 51 kilometers (31.7 miles) long! This cave system is also connected underground to Mammoth Cave, which is the longest cave in the world. Glennon also helped discover one of the biggest cave rooms in Kentucky.

Studying Geysers

In 2002, Glennon led an American team to El Tatio Geyser Field in Chile. A geyser is a hot spring that shoots water and steam into the air. His team created the first detailed list and description of how these geysers behaved. Their report showed that El Tatio was the third largest geyser field on Earth.

Hoffman Environmental Research Institute (HERI)

In 1999, Glennon helped start the Hoffman Environmental Research Institute (HERI) with Dr. Chris Groves. Dr. Groves was the president of the Cave Research Foundation from 2004 to 2006. HERI's main goal is to study the natural environment and geologic features of caves and karst landscapes. Karst is a special type of landscape made of soluble rock, like limestone, where water creates caves, sinkholes, and underground drainage. HERI is based at Western Kentucky University. A big part of their scientific work focuses on karst issues in China.

About John Glennon

John Glennon studied geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he earned his PhD in 2013. His professor was Dr. Michael Frank Goodchild, who is a pioneer in Geographic Information Science. Dr. Goodchild also discovered Castleguard Cave, which is Canada's longest cave. Before his PhD, Glennon earned a Master of Science degree in Geoscience from Western Kentucky University in 2001. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Park Administration from Texas A&M University in 1994.

Because of his important cave discoveries in Kentucky, John Alan Glennon was given a special honor called the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels. This is a title of honor given by the Governor of Kentucky to people who have done great things for the state.