November 5, 2008
Everything starts on a local level first.
President Emily B. Neal of the Society of Cryptozoology at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, has alerted me to the fact they will hold their group’s second meeting on Wednesday, November 5, 2008, between 8:30-10 pm EST. The meeting will be held in the GBJ Student Center and the room is “North Lounge,” which is on the third floor.
They meet on Wednesdays, with the partial purpose of discussing what will be broadcast on “MonsterQuest” and other cryptids.
The official mission of VT’s Society of Cryptozoology is “to meet and discuss cryptozoological phenomenon ongoing in the world.”
Ms. Neal has bestowed on me an Honorary Membership to her group, and I thank her for the honor. I wish her organization a rising membership and great adventures as they pursue their quests!
Intriguingly, VT is where my friend, the emeritus professor of chemistry and science studies, and emeritus dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Henry H. Bauer use to teach.
During his tenure as professor at Virginia Tech, Henry Bauer took over twenty trips to Loch Ness, searching for the Loch Ness Monster. Bauer developed an interest in the Loch Ness Monster and based his open-minded research on Nessie’s existence on a film made by the prominent Loch Ness Monster hunter Tim Dinsdale.
In the 1980s, Bauer researched and wrote a book on the Loch Ness Monsters, the monster hunters, and the history of the quest for Nessie, entitled The Enigma of Loch Ness.
Bauer retired from VT in 1999.
Perhaps at some point in VT’s new Society of Cryptozoology’s organizing efforts, they might wish to rename the group after Henry Bauer, in his honor.
Are there other examples like this around the world?
Does your school or university have a cryptozoology society or club? Let me know about it.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Filed under Cryptomundo Exclusive, Cryptotourism, CryptoZoo News, Cryptozoologists, Cryptozoology, Cryptozoology Conferences, Loch Ness Monster, Men in Cryptozoology, Pop Culture, Public Forum, Women in Cryptozoology