Cave dwellers: UTC alums share their Raccoon Mountain Caverns tales

Jasmin Barton-Holt first moved to Chattanooga to work in Raccoon Mountain Caverns before enrolling at UTC (photo courtesy of Jasmin Barton-Holt).

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s recent gift acquisition of Raccoon Mountain Caverns marks a new chapter in research opportunities for both faculty and students.

This underground laboratory—rich with geological formations, unique ecosystems and untouched sections—offers an unparalleled environment for study and exploration.

More than just an underground playground, the caverns will serve as a hands-on educational resource, providing UTC with a distinctive asset for expanding scientific inquiry and interdisciplinary collaboration.

While this acquisition opens new doors for the University, it’s not a new story for UTC students and researchers who have already delved into the wonders of the cave. Over the years, numerous students have conducted research or taken up roles in managing and exploring the caverns, gaining valuable real-world experience that has shaped their careers.

Here are some of their stories.

Dylan Ripley met his wife, Mona, at a UTC Marching Band camp. The couple took pictures during an Oct. 4, 2015, visit to Raccoon Mountain Caverns (photos courtesy of Dylan Ripley).

Geology and exploration

Dylan Ripley, who received a geology degree from UTC in 2015, has fond memories of his time working at Raccoon Mountain Caverns.

Now employed as a geologist-in-training at Stantec’s Environmental Sciences Gulf Region, Ripley “spends his days in the field, leading a team to collect soil and groundwater samples.”

His role is pivotal in “ensuring everybody’s collecting quality data in a safe way,” he said.

For Ripley, working at Raccoon Mountain Caverns during his undergraduate days offered a unique blend of fun and hands-on geology experience.

“It was a great experience to work with your colleagues at school. We were professional, but we were also still students,” he said. “Some of my fondest memories and friends were made while working there.

“The cave has a special place in my heart, and I’m glad to hear that the pursuit of knowledge will lead to the cave’s stewardship.”

With UTC now acquiring the caverns, he believes this change will ensure the cave’s future is in good hands.

“I think that’s the best thing for the cave. Caves are a super integral part of our water cycle and we need to take care of them,” he said.

As for future generations of UTC students, he sees immense potential for growth and discovery.

“It’s a great opportunity for these students to have that space to explore and learn in a controlled environment,” he said. “I think it would be good for the discipline of speleology in particular. Maybe more students would pursue that discipline.”

Ripley reminisced as he talked about the quieter moments he spent exploring the cave’s natural beauty.

“I really loved seeing all the creatures that lived in there because … really, caves are a place where humans don’t exist. They should not be there,” he said. “It’s not for human beings, but seeing the salamanders—cave salamanders, slimy salamanders, spring salamanders—that was always a highlight.

“The cave helped me manage stress, interact with people and build confidence. I cherish my time working at the cave. It was a great experience.”

Justice Johnson and Hannah Andrews (photo courtesy of Hannah Andrews)

Lessons from beneath the surface

For Hannah Andrews, Raccoon Mountain Caverns was more than just a workplace or a research site—it became a formative experience that shaped her career.

Andrews, who graduated from UTC in 2022 with a degree in environmental geology, began working at the caverns in 2021, leading walking tours for the public and introducing visitors to both the history and science of the cave.

“I’d take groups of 15 or so into the cave, pointing out all the critters—both the fossilized and the living ones,” said Andrews, who is now a watershed representative for TVA.

As her experience grew, so did her responsibilities.

“Once I graduated, I started doing the wild cave tours where you go further back into the cave and really get muddy,” she said. “You get to know people really well when you go caving with them.

“Caving can be very dangerous. There was one time that I got stuck in the cave,” she said, laughing, “but it just brought me closer to that cave.”

Andrews’ connection to the caverns extended beyond her role as a guide. As an undergraduate, she conducted research at the site—inspired by the work of her friend Jasmin Barton-Holt.

Barton-Holt had identified elevated levels of nitrates in the cave’s water, which can sometimes indicate pollution. Andrews took the research further by exploring not only the cave’s surface pools but also formations deeper within the caverns.

“My project was just seeing if pollutants on the surface were also found deeper in the cave—and if the surface waters were making their way into the cave’s ecosystem,” Andrews said. “It was a really fascinating process.”

Andrews admitted getting a tad emotional when she learned Raccoon Mountain Caverns was being donated to UTC.

“I think this is awesome. I cried when I found out UTC got ownership of the cave,” she recalled. “There are so many research possibilities for students to take on in the future. There are very strange formations, so many little animals, so many fossils. That cave is fascinating for both speleology and geology.”

She said that the caverns will now serve as a laboratory for biology, geology, environmental science and other fields.

“There’s so much potential. It’s not just a cave; it’s a living laboratory that can help students understand ecosystems, formations and even pollutants,” she said.

“I love this cave, but Jasmin moved specifically to Chattanooga to work in that cave. She’ll have a whole lot more to say about it. She really loves it.”

Jasmin Barton-Holt said one of the highlights of her undergraduate days was conducting research in the caverns for her senior thesis (photo courtesy of Jasmin Barton-Holt).

A cave runs deep has a deeper meaning

Jasmin Barton-Holt’s connection to Raccoon Mountain Caverns runs deep, far beyond her time as a student at UTC.

In fact, it was her childhood experience at the caverns that sparked her passion for geology, leading to a degree in the field from UTC in 2022.

“I’ve always wanted to be a geologist, but when I was maybe 11 or 12, I was living in Jackson, Tennessee, and I kind of was stuck between knowing I wanted to be some type of scientist, but I didn’t know where,” said Barton-Holt, now a professional geologist for S&ME, a civil engineering firm. “I got invited to join a Venturing crew—which is essentially coed Boy Scouts—and we went on a camping trip, driving all the way from Jackson to Chattanooga. We got to stay the night in the cave—and that’s what really sparked my love of geology.”

Years later, after an unfulfilling freshman experience at another university, Barton-Holt felt the call of Chattanooga again—this time without a clear plan but with a sense of adventure.

“I called up Raccoon Mountain Caverns one day, and I was like, ‘Hey, are you guys hiring?’ And they said yes. I got an interview, and I literally moved to Chattanooga to work at that cave before I even had a plan to move to UTC,” she explained.

Her experiences at the caverns laid the foundation for her academic journey and her current career.

“Working at the cave got me used to being comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Barton-Holt recalled. “It helped me learn a lot about how to manage uncomfortable situations at work—like having to slop through mud or dealing with bloody noses from dust I’m inhaling.

“I feel like I really grew as a person in that context, and it did prepare me for being in the field.”

It also led her to the UTC geology program.

She said one of the highlights of her undergraduate days was conducting research in the caverns for her senior thesis, collaborating with fellow geology student Landon Courtney; Barton-Holt focused on the geochemistry of the cave’s water while Courtney looked for microplastics.

Beyond academic research, she also had a deep understanding of the caverns’ history, having written informational scripts for tours and even training guides for crawling tours.

Barton-Holt was asked her thoughts about the caverns now being operated by her alma mater.

“The cave deserves respect from a scientific point of view that I don’t think it was getting,” she said, “and I think switching gears to being more respectful to the environment is going to be really, really good for the cave itself and also for the community around it.”

Michael Schoonover, who performed grant-funded research at Raccoon Mountain Caverns during the 2015-2016 academic year, is now a physician assistant based in Knoxville (photo courtesy of Dr. David Giles).

Unearthing confidence

Michael Schoonover, who received a bachelor’s degree in biology from UTC in 2016, performed grant-funded research at Raccoon Mountain Caverns during the 2015-2016 academic year with UTC microbiologist David Giles.

Schoonover, who later earned a Master of Physician Assistant Studies from Wingate University in North Carolina, is now a physician assistant based in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Reflecting on his time at UTC, Schoonover said that his undergraduate years were filled with hands-on research and academic accomplishments as he gravitated from organic chemistry to microbiology.

He said getting the opportunity to do research at Raccoon Mountain Caverns under Giles’ guidance was a transformative experience for him.

“For the first time, I had felt like I belonged in this realm of academics, of being a true expert in this specific field of science that very few others honestly have explored,” Schoonover said. “It gave me confidence that I never had in academics before—and that confidence is what drives my critical thinking in advanced science to this day.”

The research itself, titled “A Survey of Bacterial Biodiversity and Lipid Content within Raccoon Mountain Caverns,” presented him with rare and unforgettable experiences, as the challenges of working in such an extreme environment required a multidisciplinary approach with the Department of Chemistry and Physics, “which taught me the importance of collaboration across different scientific fields.”

“When it comes to studying a specific environment, especially these extreme environments like caverns, it really is multidisciplinary because you need so many experts from so many different fields to truly understand the environment,” he said.

Schoonover also shared some of his more adventurous moments during his time in the caverns.

“You definitely can’t forget about the guys hanging from the ceilings because I almost whacked my head on one once or twice,” he said with a laugh, referring to the bats living in the cave. “You have mammals in those caves, too, and they contribute to the nutrients that these microbes rely on. You get into invertebrate zoology as well because all of them are going to be contributing.”

Looking back, Schoonover credited his research at Raccoon Mountain Caverns as foundational to his professional success.

“I truly do thank Dr. Giles, and I thank that research project every time I go to work to help my patients, because it gave me essential skills to succeed in what I’m doing today,” he said. “It helped build that critical thinking and that understanding that you need to have to be working in fields of advanced science.”