{"id":1055,"date":"2026-03-01T12:46:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T12:46:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/in-the-media\/?p=1055"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:51:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:51:02","slug":"unique-underground-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/in-the-media\/2026\/03\/01\/unique-underground-classroom\/","title":{"rendered":"Unique Underground Classroom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The March\/April 2026 issue of <em>The Tennessee Conservationist<\/em> highlights a unique partnership benefiting the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Raccoon Mountain Caverns has been donated to UTC, creating an \u201cunderground classroom\u201d where students and researchers can study cave ecosystems, geology and conservation firsthand. The site provides hands-on learning opportunities for biology and environmental science students while supporting research on fragile subterranean environments and public education about Tennessee\u2019s cave systems. &gt;&gt;&gt;<a href=\"https:\/\/digital.tnconservationist.org\/publication\/?i=860560&amp;p=10&amp;view=issueViewer\" id=\"https:\/\/digital.tnconservationist.org\/publication\/?i=860560&amp;p=10&amp;view=issueViewer\">Read More<\/a>&gt;&gt;&gt;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The March\/April 2026 issue of The Tennessee Conservationist highlights a unique partnership benefiting the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Raccoon Mountain Caverns has been donated to UTC, creating an \u201cunderground classroom\u201d where students and researchers can study cave ecosystems, geology and conservation firsthand. The site provides hands-on learning opportunities for biology and environmental science students&hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><span><a class=\"more-link button text\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/in-the-media\/2026\/03\/01\/unique-underground-classroom\/\"><span>Continue Reading <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2031,"featured_media":1056,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,168,76,23,410,22],"tags":[392,542,546,545,543,544],"class_list":{"0":"post-1055","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-advancement","8":"category-college-of-arts-sciences-topic","9":"category-community","10":"category-graduate-school","11":"category-media","12":"category-topic","13":"tag-department-of-biology-geology-and-environmental-science","14":"tag-dr-amy-brock-hon","15":"tag-dr-elizabeth-olson","16":"tag-dr-steve-perlaky","17":"tag-raccoon-mountain-caverns","18":"tag-the-tennessee-conservationist","19":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Unique Underground Classroom - UTC in the Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/in-the-media\/2026\/03\/01\/unique-underground-classroom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unique Underground Classroom - UTC in the Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The March\/April 2026 issue of The Tennessee Conservationist highlights a unique partnership benefiting the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Raccoon Mountain Caverns has been donated to UTC, creating an \u201cunderground classroom\u201d where students and researchers can study cave ecosystems, geology and conservation firsthand. The site provides hands-on learning opportunities for biology and environmental science students&hellip; Continue Reading\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/in-the-media\/2026\/03\/01\/unique-underground-classroom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UTC in the Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-01T12:46:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-10T12:51:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/162\/2026\/03\/Tennessee-Conservationist.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1078\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"JAy Blackman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Tennessee Conservationist\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.utc.edu\\\/in-the-media\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/01\\\/unique-underground-classroom\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.utc.edu\\\/in-the-media\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/01\\\/unique-underground-classroom\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"JAy Blackman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.utc.edu\\\/in-the-media\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/97203dc7c03b98f61f30ae1dcb6730c3\"},\"headline\":\"Unique Underground Classroom\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-01T12:46:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T12:51:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.utc.edu\\\/in-the-media\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/01\\\/unique-underground-classroom\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":81,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.utc.edu\\\/in-the-media\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/01\\\/unique-underground-classroom\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/blog.utc.edu\\\/app\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/162\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/Tennessee-Conservationist.jpg?fit=1280%2C1078&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"Department of Biology Geology and Environmental Science\",\"Dr. Amy Brock-Hon\",\"Dr. Elizabeth Olson\",\"Dr. Steve Perlaky\",\"Raccoon Mountain Caverns\",\"The Tennessee Conservationist\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Advancement\",\"College of Arts &amp; 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