News & Announcements

65th KGS Annual Seminar: Powering Kentucky’s Future

Join us in June to discuss energy resources and related environmental projects in Kentucky and participate in hands-on workshops. The 2026 annual seminar will focus on Kentucky’s energy outlook, highlighting recent geoscience research in hydrogen, critical minerals, oil and gas, and environmental management.

From cave to CHAOS to community: Rachel Washburn shares geohealth research with Hidden River Cave stakeholders

Rachel Washburn, postdoctoral fellow with the Geohealth Team at the Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) and Director of the CHAOS Lab (Center for geoHealth and Applied Omics Studies), recently visited Hidden River Cave and the American Cave Conservation Association (ACCA) to present new research findings generated directly from the cave system.

Burgin flood survivor returns home

Woman displaced 10 months by back-to-back floods refuses to leave neighborhood as geological survey tests dewatering wells

Kentucky geologist creates trail guide to showcase state’s natural arches

Kentucky Geological Survey visits Kentucky River landslide area in Frankfort

More than 500 homes in Franklin County were invaded by the Kentucky River during historic flooding last April. But in some places, homes were also affected by land movement. At that time, it was a difficult task to tell someone they weren't allowed in their own home. But that’s what Autumn Goderwis, the planning director for Franklin County, had to do because of landslides.

UK landslide research expands to Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati

The Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) received a $182,961 grant from the U.S. Geological Survey to advance geological understanding and hazard preparedness for Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati. The project will produce landslide inventory maps and landslide susceptibility maps for the region that will benefit city planners, local governments and landowners.

CLIMBS Researchers Go Global in Finding Hazard Solutions through NSF’s CLaSH Initiative

Geologic hazards are complicated, connected, and continuous. While extreme precipitation events can cause catastrophic flooding, the intense precipitation can also induce widespread landslide activity. The landslide deposits can block small streams or send pulses of materials into rivers, exacerbating the destructiveness of the flood by changing the nature of the flow and providing larger debris that can impact infrastructure. Similarly, wildfire burns vegetation, making hillslopes more susceptible to landsliding during intense precipitation. The positive feedback between one hazard exacerbating the severity of another hazard is referred to as a hazard cascade. Understanding hazard cascades and their impacts on infrastructure and people is difficult, and exactly the type of challenge addressed through the National Science Foundation’s new CLaSH – Center for Land Surface Hazards (CLaSH). Kentucky researchers are playing a key role.

Kentucky Geological Survey receives nearly $340,000 from USGS to preserve vital oil and gas well records

The Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) has been awarded $335,695 from the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program (NGGDPP) to improve access to and preservation of Kentucky’s oil and gas well records and samples. The new funding, matched by KGS for a total project investment of $671,390, supports a three-year effort that began on August 1, 2025.