Lyon College to Host Journalist and Cave Science Expert Michael Ray Taylor for Convocation and AAS Conference
BATESVILLE, Arkansas — Lyon College will continue its spring 2025 Convocation speaker series with a presentation on “Exploring a Biological Frontier” by science journalist and caver Michael Ray Taylor on Thursday, April 3, at 4 p.m. in the Nucor Auditorium of the Lyon Business and Economics Building, located at 2300 Highland Rd. in Batesville.
The event is free and open to the public.
Taylor has explored unusual cave systems worldwide and will discuss three ongoing projects that shed light on how large mammals survived past climate changes, the existence of a deep hidden biosphere and the potential for microbial life on other worlds in the solar system. He will share images from recent cave discoveries not yet made public.
The lecture will precede the 108th annual meeting of the Arkansas Academy of Science, scheduled for April 4-5 at Lyon College. The Academy aims to promote and disseminate scientific knowledge while fostering collaboration among researchers in the state. The conference will feature more than 120 research presentations and poster sessions. Taylor also will be a featured speaker at the conference.
Taylor, a professor emeritus of communication at Henderson State University, is an acclaimed writer specializing in caves and cave science. His books, “Cave Passages,” “Dark Life” and “Hidden Nature,” explore the world beneath Earth’s surface, with “Hidden Nature” being a 2021 finalist for the Reed Environmental Writing Award. His cave-related articles have been featured in The New York Times, Audubon, Sports Illustrated, National Parks and numerous other publications.
A fellow of the National Speleological Society, the Cave Research Foundation, and The Explorers Club, Taylor has spent years investigating exotic microbes deep within Tennessee caves with biologist James Engman of Rhodes College. This research is detailed in “Hidden Nature.”
For more information, please contact Carol Langston at Carol.Langston@lyon.edu or (870) 307-7075.
Cathy Drew is a lifelong resident of the region that she loves to promote. She was born in downtown Batesville in the late ’60s, located in one of the eight counties she now enjoys encouraging people to visit.
Drew became associated with the Ozark Gateway Region in 1990 while working at the ad agency (The Media Market Inc.). The agency handled marketing for the regional association, where she and her co-workers produced an annual tabloid publication. She began working as the Ozark Gateway Region director in June 2000.
After Drew became director, she took the region to the next level by helping the tourism organization create a new website and moved it from the old newspaper paper tabloid publication to a color magazine format. She helped open a visitor center for the Ozark Gateway, allowing visitors to pick up information from the entire state 24/7. Over the years, Drew has helped the organization meet new marketing goals, such as in- and out-of-state marketing, assuring that all 100,000 copies of their magazines are distributed each year.
In 2016, she assisted in creating the first Ozark Gateway Region Golf Classic. The tournament continues to grow each year, allowing the organization to expand its co-op program and helping each county have dedicated promotion. Drew stays busy at Ozark Gateway as the ad sales manager, magazine editor, day-to-day office operations, trade show representative, and magazine distribution representative, all while ensuring that the region is represented all over Arkansas and southern Missouri.
Drew was featured in several local and statewide publications over the years, as well as the 1997 cover of the Ozark Gateway Region tabloid, along with her then 4-year-old son, Jon. She has received several awards, such as the Batesville Rotarian of the Year in 2010 and a three-time Paul Harris Fellow.
She also has served as an Independence County election commissioner for several years. She now serves as their co-election coordinator, helping with behind-the-scenes management of voting equipment, day-to-day election deadlines, and poll worker training.
Drew is Batesville Rotary Club Past President, and is the Rotary Clubs’ current membership chair.
In March of 2018, Drew was honored with induction into the Arkansas Tourism Hall of Fame for her many years of dedicated service to the tourism industry.