NSS 32145RE PH FE • Webmaster • Newsletter Editor • Bear Cave and Trout Run Woods Preserve Manager • Library Archivist
Forbidden by her grandfather to visit Bear Cave when she was 12, because it was too dangerous for girls, Kim went with her sister Jackie, cousin, and neighbors Dave and Wendy Jones as soon as she got the opportunity and some willing companions about three years later. She has since made caving her life-long avocation, inspired by her grandfather, who owned Bear Cave.
She earned a bachelor of arts degree in English from Seton Hill University and also had a self-designed minor in art. She later earned a master of arts degree in writing popular fiction from Seton Hill. She once served as editor of the Latrobe Bulletin newspaper and was a staff writer for the Indiana Gazette. She now works in public relations at Saint Vincent. Aside from caving, writing, photography and history, she has had a lifelong interest in sports, playing intercollegiate basketball and softball.
Kim spearheaded efforts to prevent Copperhead Cave from being mined away, and has assisted other local groups in their efforts to stop a proposed Chestnut Ridge Quarry. That story is documented in the book, One Voice, available on amazon.com. She started mapping caves in 1993. She and other caving friends have documented and mapped more than 300 caves, mostly in western Pennsylvania. Other projects include the annual Bear Cave Cleanup, mapping Laurel Caverns with a group from York Grotto, and mapping Harlansburg Cave. She edited the 1997 Speleo-Digest and serves as newsletter editor for the MAKC. She is edited the guidebook for the 2013 NSS Convention in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, Caves of Pennsylvania.
She has visited all but four states, and caved in 33 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the only cave in Delaware.