Summer 2005
The race is on!
DRI’s air quality experts try a new twist on their research:
museum preservation to save China’s national treasure
IN THIS ISSUE:
Turning on NEON
for a healthy planet
page 5
Blast from the past
page 6
2005 Nevada
Dinner photos
page 10
The year was 1974. Two Chinese peasant farmers
wandered into an area of Xi’an, the capital of China’s
Shaanxi Province, and proceeded to dig a well to irrigate their fields. Instead of hitting an aquifer, the farmers struck something even more precious: they stumbled upon the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor
of China. The discovery is touted as the largest and most
important archaeological find in the history of China.
Go backward in time now to 221 B.C. At only 13
years old, Emperor Qin ascended to the throne and
immediately commissioned his people to begin building his tomb. Over the next 38 years, while the emperor
was building the first centralized feudal dynasty in
China, including the Great Wall of China, more than 1
million people, or 10 percent of the local population,
constructed the emperor’s tomb.
Dr. Watson and Dr. Chow assemble a
Ground penetrating radar has revealed that approxpollution sampler in a pit of the museum.
imately 7,000 life-sized terra-cotta warriors, horses,
(All photos in this story by Dr. Junji Cao)
chariots and even weapons exist in the mausoleum.
Each soldier has a unique facial expression and dress,
indicating his position in rank and duty, and all the soldiers were buried in a battle-ready position.
Emperor Qin believed that if he buried himself with the warriors and horses, he would be protected
in the afterlife.
Upon their discovery, the Chinese immediately began unearthing the figures in three pits. A warehouse-type structure was built around the tomb, and archaeologists have meticulously uncovered
1,000 warriors and horses to date, restoring them as best they can to their former grandeur. The
Emperor Qin’s Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses Museum has been open to visitors for more than 25
years and has developed into the largest on-site museum in China with 1.5 million visitors annually.
Today. . . the excitement of the find has turned to concern, as the exposed figures have started
to decay visibly. Due to a combination of general air pollution in China, raised temperatures and
humidity in the mausoleum and pollution from tourists visiting the museum, the terra-cotta warriors
are being affected, showing signs of suffering from mold.
continued on page 2
continued from page 1
Enter DRI’s world-renowned air quality experts, Dr. Judith Chow and Dr. John Watson. No strangers to China’s air quality issues, the challenges presented by the terra-cotta army make this project
unique. In the spring 2004 edition of DRI News, an article on collaborations with China discussed
a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, that DRI signed with Dr. Guo Zhengtang, president of
the Chinese Academy of Science’s Institute of Earth Environment. This was one of three MOUs DRI
signed with China, showing DRI’s commitment to work with China to address the deteriorating air
quality conditions plaguing the country.
On March 3, 2005, DRI President Dr. Stephen Wells, Nevada System of Higher Education Regent
Jill Derby, Watson and Chow attended a signing ceremony at Emperor Qin’s Terra-cotta Warriors
and Horses Museum, launching a two-year study to get to the bottom of the museum’s
air quality problems. Chow and Watson, who were made adjunct professors of the
Chinese Academy of Science’s Institute of Earth and Environment, will work alongside
the institute’s researchers and researchers from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University
to determine what type of constituents are in the air and how to best preserve the
quality of the museum artifacts.
“When you stand among the figures, their size and stature are astounding,” Watson
said. “And while it’s sad to see the degradation of the statues, it’s also encouraging to
see how China is really making a concerted effort to circumvent the problem. They
realize the value of their history and the importance of preserving it.”
It’s all in the technique. . .
Characterization of the air in the museum will happen in two ways: actively and passively. Active
characterization involves pulling air through filters. Passive characterization uses a silicon wafer
called a subtrate to absorb gases from the ambient air.
“These collectors will be placed all over the museum, in discreet places around the figures,”
Chow said. “Each cartridge is chemically treated so different gases can be acquired.”
In addition to working in Pits 1 and 3 of the museum, sampling also will take place outside the
building to obtain background levels of constituents in the air. Comparisons will be made to see what
types of gases are occurring inside versus outside. Monitoring and characterization also will take
place on a smaller scale in what is known as “chamber studies.” Pieces of artifacts will be placed
in individual chambers where scientists can simulate the humidity in the museum, or place specific
gases found in the museum onto the pieces to watch their reaction to them. This method will help rule
out certain contaminants as problematic and narrow down the sources of the degradation.
Currently, researchers are busy setting up equipment, staging it and preparing for sampling to
begin. In the fall, the museum will undergo one year of characterization, followed by compilation
and reporting of results.
–Heather Emmons
2
Student
collaboration
is key
If a student really wants hands-on,
cutting-edge experience in air quality
work, the easiest way to accomplish
the goal is to follow around Dr. John
Watson and Dr. Judy Chow. For
approximately 10 years, the two topnotch researchers have
been involved
in several
exchanges
where Chinese
scientists work
with them in
China or come
to DRI. The
terra-cotta warrior project is no
exception.
Feng “Kurt” Wu, a student from
the Chinese Academy of Science’s
Institute of Earth and Environment,
is finishing his dissertation which
involves understanding the deposition process of dust particles from
yesterday, during the Quaternary
Period, to today. His study explores
the composition of the yellow sand
typically found in China, which is the
same type of sandy deposits in which
the terra-cotta soldiers sit. He will
spend six months in DRI’s labs in Reno,
learning what is needed to assemble
an adequate air sampling lab, and then
he will duplicate it in China.
Ground penetrating radar allowed archaeologists to locate and preserve 1,000 warriors and horses. Six
thousand more figures are thought to still remain under ground.
Inset above, left to right: Dr. Junji Cao, PI for the project; Dr. Kochy Fung, advisor to the project representing Atmoslytic Inc.; Dr. Judith Chow, DRI; Dr. Frank Lee, Hong Kong Polytechnic Institute; and Dr.
John Watson, DRI.
Inset, left: Mold degrades the features of a terra-cotta warrior.
Previous page: Feng “Kurt” Wu, a student from the Chinese Academy of Science’s Institute of Earth
and Environment works in DRI’s resuspension lab.
Bottom of previous page: DRI President Dr. Stephen Wells signs an agreement with members of the
Chinese Academy of Science’s Institute of Earth and Environment, Hong Kong Polytechnic Institute
and Emperor Qin’s Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses Museum.
Maria Papiez wins $15,000 Guinn Fellowship
While most people don’t think of trees, plants and landscaping
as contributors to smog, they do play a role. And, understanding that role is important to a
state growing as fast as Nevada.
A study by Desert Research
Institute scientists may soon
help urban planners and developers make land-cover choices
friendlier to air quality.
DRI Graduate Research
Assistant Maria Papiez, who
is part of the research team,
has been awarded the annual
$15,000 Governor Kenny Guinn
Environmental Fellowship.
Underwritten by the DRI
Research Foundation, the
scholarship was established
by DRI in 2001 to acknowledge Governor Guinn’s Millennium
Scholarship Program.
Papiez is pursuing a Master of
Science degree in environmental
chemistry at the University of Nevada,
Reno, in the Environmental Science
and Health Graduate program.
At DRI, she is studying how biological substances affect air quality. These
substances include natural components in trees and plants similar to
pine oil, menthol and camphor. When
these natural organic compounds
are mixed with sunlight and humancaused emissions like nitrogen oxide
from motor vehicles, the reactions
create smog, also known as groundlevel ozone air pollution.
3
DRI looks ahead with new Facilities Master Plan
You can’t judge a book by its cover, but can you judge an organization by its buildings and grounds? In the case of the Desert Research
Institute and its recently adopted Facilities Master Plan, you can
indeed. “It’s truly a reflection of our long-term goals and our longheld philosophies,” says DRI President Dr. Stephen G. Wells. “When
implemented, this plan will result in a physical infrastructure as visually exciting and dynamic as the scientific research conducted by our
scientists, staff and students.”
Master plans are, of course, an essential part of any organization’s grappling with the future, and with a predicted tripling of the
Institute’s research programs over the long-term, this one may be the
most important in DRI’s history regarding DRI’s facilities. In all, it
calls for a total of 780,000 gross square feet on the Reno and Las
Vegas campuses.
In a manner befitting a scientific research establishment, DRI
Works in Progress
DRI’s new Facilities Master Plan is already in action. Following are
highlights of the next steps toward the Institute’s future.
• George B. Maxey Science Center Addition and Renovation.
Currently underway, this project creates an additional 8800
square feet of space on the Reno campus. The project will provide
new science labs and office space for the faculty of DRI’s Division
of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, supporting the significant
growth in such lab-intensive studies as microbial ecology and
molecular biology. In addition, it will create new executive offices
and conference areas, and housing for the four-sided CAVE virtual
reality visualization laboratory.
• Field Operations Facility. Also in progress, this 4000-squarefoot facility on the north end of the Reno campus will serve as a
staging area for field activities and a repair and storage area for
equipment.
• Computational Research and Visualization Building. (see
rendering below) With $14.4 million in capital funding received
from the Nevada State Legislature, this unique research facility on
the Reno campus will be home to the state-of-the-art, six-sided
CAVE. CAVE is aimed at improving DRI’s ability to simulate realworld environments visually and to interact with those simulations
in ways that reflect real-world circumstances. Its virtual reality
capability also allows scientists to explore physically inaccessible
sites; for example, under the ground, in the air or in extremely large
or small phenomena. Visualization technology is quickly becoming
a cornerstone of world-class science, and DRI’s CAVE is one of
the institute’s most important new projects.
• Southern Nevada Science Center Phase III. Yet to be funded, this
project would provide an additional 68,000 square feet in support
of expansion and new program growth in Las Vegas.
4
approached its future development, well. . . scientifically. “We first
determined a core set of design principles,” explains Peter Ross, DRI
Assistant Vice President for Campus Planning and Physical Plant, “and
then let those drive the plan.” Those principles—themes inherent to
doing things the “DRI way”—evolved out of a series of meetings and
work sessions that included DRI faculty, staff and students from the
Reno and Las Vegas campuses, as well as representatives from the
City of Reno staff and Truckee Meadows Community College.
Communication and flexibility were two of those standout principles, says Ross. “They’re critical to the interdisciplinary nature of
DRI’s research and to our continued technological advancements.
The campus design has to emphasize and facilitate both of them.
That’s why there’s flow-through and connectivity—to invite the interaction, even the chance meetings, that can be catalysts for this kind of
multi-pronged science. And creating facilities that are flexible allows
continued on page 8
Above: The entry lobby of the Frank H. Rogers Science and Technology
Building in Las Vegas, DRI’s most recently completed facility
Below: View of the entry court and drought tolerant planting at the
Southern Nevada Science Center Phase I building
Below: View from the southeast, looking at the Northern Nevada Science
Center (left) and the Dorothy S. Gallagher Great Basin Environmental
Research Laboratory (right), with historic mine tailings in the foreground
Below: Large windows at the Elizabeth Stout Conference Center capture
views of Reno. A future plaza will replace the temporary building shown on
the right side of the photograph.
That National Ecological Observatory Network
Can NEON light the way to a healthier planet?
It’s a small world, after all.
So small, in fact, that the zebra mussel, native to the Caspian Sea
region of Asia, is now wreaking havoc on water systems from the Great
Lakes to New Orleans. So small, that the West Nile virus has spread to
nearly every state in the union since first appearing in North America
just six years ago. So small, that dust blown from African deserts has
been linked to a dramatic rise in childhood asthma in the Caribbean.
Invasive species, emerging diseases, and the often-unexpected
consequences of land-use and climate change are just a few of the less
positive aspects of a rapidly changing and increasingly connected world.
Recognizing that these and related environmental issues will pose
some of the greatest challenges of the new century—and that technological advances are offering unprecedented opportunities to address
them—the National Science Foundation has initiated the creation of the
National Ecological Observatory Network, or NEON.
“This is an attempt for the first time ever in the United States,”
explains Dr. Michael Auerbach, Executive Director of DRI’s Division of
Earth and Ecosystem Science and subcommittee member of the NEON
Design Consortium, “to have the capability to assess ecosystem health
and change in all the diverse regions and ecosystems across the country. We don’t have that capability right now and it’s increasingly vital that
we do. . . We can’t assess how much is changing, or predict how those
changes will affect us, until we have a continuous and coordinated
monitoring system in place.”
NEON—a collection of geographically distributed sites connected
via state-of-the-art communications and computational networks—
will be that system, transforming ecological research by enabling largescale, standardized and shared assessment and monitoring of important environmental indicators. “In the way that the National Weather
Service tracks meteorological conditions,” explains Auerbach, “NEON
would track ecological conditions.”
Key among those are six “grand challenges” identified by a National
Research Council committee as the nation’s most pressing environmental issues: biodiversity, species
composition and ecosystem functioning; ecological aspects of
biogeochemical cycle; ecological
implications of climate
change; ecology
and evolution of
infectious diseases;
invasive species; and
land-use and habitat alteration. “These are things,” says
Auerbach, “that are pretty
important to keeping what we
like to call life going on this
planet.”
While an extensive
consortium plans the overall design—core locations, infrastructure needs,
Dr. Michael Auerbach
etc.—academic, research
and land management entities have organized regionally in anticipation of becoming part of
NEON. Auerbach has been part of that process, serving on the steering committee for the Intermountain Regional Observatory Network,
or IRON, that represents the Great Basin, Colorado Plateau and parts
of Oregon and Washington, as well as on the executive committee for
Southwest Ecological Observatory Network, or SWEON, covering the
southwest deserts.
He’s not alone in his participation. “DRI scientists from all three
divisions have been very involved in the IRON meetings,” he says. No
surprise considering that DRI researchers are already investigating
many of the issues NEON will address regionally and continentally.
“There’s no doubt that with our faculty know-how and facilities like the
EcoCELLs, Western Regional Climate Center and southern Nevada FACE
facility, DRI will play a leading role in the final form of NEON.”
Auerbach also feels that DRI’s location in the Great Basin will make it
a valuable player on the national team. “First, the Great Basin is unique
in terms of what it can tell us about global change; it’s certainly changed
dramatically since being inundated by water. Second, it’s been relatively
neglected in terms of the gross amount of research done. Between that
neglect and that relevance, we’ve got a nice little guinea pig of an area
to work with.”
One task of the regional groups is to assess what they already have—
labs, storage facilities and numerous disparate research stations, for
instance—and then determine what more they need. “Take carbon
flux,” says Auerbach. “We need good regional measurements. Are we
getting adequate coverage with the facilities we have? Or rivers and
streams. Some are gauged, others are not. It would be nice to know
after a weather event or spring melt-off, exactly how much water is
coming into the Great Basin. That’s not happening.” Making it happen
means “filling in the gaps with not only what we have available now, but
continued on page 8
This map represents a proposed regional breakdown of the NEON Observatory Network. DRI would be
active in the IRON (Intermountain) and SWEON (Southwest) regions.
–Figure provided by the Consortium of Regional Ecological Observatories, http://www.neoncoreo.org/
5
The new Atomic Testing Museum makes an impression of
atomic proportions
On February 19, 2005, hundreds of enthusiastic well-wishers gathered under a large white canopy at DRI’s southern Nevada campus to
celebrate the opening of Las Vegas’ newest attraction, and arguably
one of it’s most unique: the Atomic Testing Museum. An unforgettable
milestone for its founder – the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation
– the Smithsonian-affiliated museum successfully recreates the physical and emotional senses attributed to the Cold War era, and more
specifically, with being a part of the Nevada Test Site’s history.
The grand opening of the museum this year coincides nicely with
Las Vegas’ Centennial celebrations, as the test site played a vital role in
Las Vegas history. Sen. Harry Reid, Mayor Oscar Goodman, U.S. Rep.
Shelley Berkley, Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt and Chancellor Jim Rogers
were among the speakers who welcomed the newest attraction to Las
Vegas. All of them recognized the importance of the test site workers
who dedicated years of their lives for a common goal in a desolate
area 65 miles north of Las Vegas. Ambassador Linton Brooks of
the National Nuclear Security Administration, DRI President Steve
Wells and Dr. Brent Glass, director of the Smithsonian Institution’s
nental test site and how it evolved out of a nuclear arms race, with the
goals of producing the newest, biggest and best defense weaponry
the world had ever seen. The Nevada Test Site played a vital role in
the Cold War, with thousands of people dedicating their lives to
a common cause that involved conducting 100 atmospheric and
828 underground nuclear tests between 1951 and 1992, when the
second moratorium on nuclear testing occurred.
As the chronology of Cold War history unfolds through a
timeline comparing popular culture, nuclear testing events and
world events, several television screens show footage of the day.
In the Atomic Age gallery, nuclear physics is explained with a good
explanation of how an atom works. You will see Einstein’s 1939 letter
to Franklin D. Roosevelt explaining the implications of nuclear chain
reactions, as well as a large glass
case housing artifacts from popular
culture, like the “Atomic” sewing
kit from the 1950s and 1960s, the
Gilbert Atomic Energy Lab Chemistry
Right: Senator Harry Reid gestures during his
remarks at the grand opening of the Atomic Testing
Museum.
Left: Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman speaks with enthusiasm to
welcome the newest addition to Las Vegas.
Above, inset: Nevada System of Higher Education Chancellor Jim Rogers
talks about the importance of the museum and the role his father, Frank
Rogers, played in Nevada Test Site history.
Right, inset: U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley and Dr. Lonnie
Hammagren celebrate the opening of the museum.
National Museum of American History, also spoke of the importance of seeing the museum come to fruition. Peaceful protestors
who spent the day waving signs on the street corner also took time
to peruse the museum and admittedly found it to be a treasure trove
of information.
So, what’s all the rumbling about? Take a look. . .
After purchasing a ticket at a replica of a guard
station at the Nevada Test Site, visitors walk by images of
“Trinity,” the first atomic bomb which was detonated on
July 16, 1945, in Alamogordo, New Mexico. A three-screen
projection system lights up with images of how the Cold
War came about, beginning with Hitler invading Austria,
images of Einstein, the Manhattan Project, Japan entering
the Pacific Rim and the development of the Trinity bomb.
The museum then unravels the story of why the Nevada
Test Site, established in 1951, was chosen as the first conti-
6
Set from the 1950s and the “Atomic
Disintegrator” toy repeating cap
pistol by Hubley, circa 1950.
The museum aptly recreates the
feeling of being an onlooker with the
earth-shaking Ground Zero Theater.
Amidst great footage and narration, suddenly the bench
shakes and a blast of warm air recreates the experience of
watching a nuclear detonation. On screen, Test Controller
Troy Wade recounts the anxiety he felt and describes the
awesome sights – and responsibility – of the weapon he
helped test.
Ramping down through an actual decoupler like those
used in underground testing, visitors pass by mannequins
and an old television, like the ones used on the site when
recreating a bomb shelter. In addition to building bombs,
Left: Visitors purchase tickets to the museum at the replica of a guard station entrance to
the Nevada Test Site.
Below: The entrance to the Underground Testing Gallery brings a feeling of going
underground as visitors pass through a decoupler like those used in tunnel testing.
Bottom, opposite page: In July 1957, the first live firing of a Genie nuclear-armed air-to-air
missile like this one was launched over Yucca Flat from an F-896 Scorpion interceptor.
it was also
important to determine how to
survive a nuclear attack. The Underground
Testing gallery showcases the effects of
828 tests in a pock-marked pictorial of Yucca Flat on the test site.
Timelines again stream along the walls taking visitors forward in
time from the 1960s through the 1990s, when India and Pakistan
tested in 1998.
Upon entering a mock Control Point area with a large video
screen, visitors can pick up a phone and press buttons to hear firsthand accounts of what it’s like to be a test controller, scientific advisor, off-site safety advisor, test director and weather advisor preparing and detonating a device.
Rounding the corner to enter the Versatile Lab gallery, it becomes
evident that times have changed and so has the use of nuclear weapons.
The Versatile Lab lives up to its name by showcasing how the test site has
become a large laboratory that houses special projects, trainings and
teams of people, such as the Hazardous Materials Spill Center, NASA
Apollo astronaut training and nuclear weapons accident training. An
interactive touch screen program helps visitors understand subcritical testing - the approach now taken for nuclear testing since the 1992
moratorium - which involves determining how the pieces and parts of a
weapon can physically and chemically degrade over time.
Science takes a different turn in the Stewards of the Land gallery,
where the geologic history of the Nevada Test Site is traced back to
volcanic activity thousands of years ago. The environmental management taking place at the site today is highlighted with an interactive
unit showing the study of the migration of radioactivity in groundwater. In another hands-on display, a Geiger counter – like those used
today at the test site – is provided to understand what radioactivity is,
where it exists and how to detect it.
The Innovators gallery, with its murals featuring the many faces of
the Nevada Test Site, pays tribute to the thousands who played a part
in keeping the country safe throughout the Cold War and beyond.
Multiple screens feature people instrumental to the programs at
the Nevada Test Site who give first-hand accounts of what it’s like
to be a very significant part
of history. The Discovery and
Innovation gallery is next,
describing the challenge of
nuclear peace. Gripping large
manipulator arms, visitors
peer through glass to try their
“hand” at handling hypothetical radioactive materials.
Finally, what is the future
of the Nevada Test Site? The
Today and Tomorrow gallery
tells about stockpile stewardship; in other words, ensuring the
preservation of core intellectual and technical competencies of the
United States in nuclear weapons. To remind us of how far we have
come since before, during and after the Cold War, a piece of the
Berlin Wall stands for hope, followed by a piece of the World Trade
Center as a stoic reminder of the important need to remain on guard
and ready. The Nevada Test Site still stands ready – with emergency
management and counter-terrorism training programs.
The atomic testing at the Nevada Test Site became somewhat of
a tourist attraction for Las Vegas in the early 1950s. Half a century
later, the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation’s museum successfully illustrates the significance of the test site as much more than
an attraction, but rather an important landmark of scientific discovery at a crucial time in America’s history. Dr. Bill Johnson, a DRI
archaeologist who has preserved artifacts from the Nevada Test Site
found in the museum today, now directs the museum.
“The Atomic Testing Museum has grown from a glimmer in the
eyes of the NTS Historical Foundation, to the ultimate acknowledgment and preservation of the people and projects of the test site,”
Johnson said. “We have hosted Japanese protestors, students, tourists and dignitaries alike since we opened our doors, and I don’t
think anyone has walked away without a new understanding about
the Cold War era and the test site’s place in that history.”
The museum is located at 755 East Flamingo Road and is open
to the public from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and
from 1-5 p.m. on Sunday. The entrance fee is $10, with discounts
for seniors and students. Children six and under are free. Become
a Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation member for just $30 per
year and gain free access to the museum and to the Changing
Exhibit Hall adjacent to the museum, which features new exhibits
approximately every six months. For more information, call (702)
794-5161 or visit www.atomictestingmuseum.org.
–Heather Emmons
7
Magazine’s honor puts focus on DRI and CSI
It isn’t often anyone shares the spotlight during
the same evening with celebrity gaming moguls
Timothy Poster and Tom Breitling, of the Golden
Nugget in Las Vegas, not to mention Executive
Producer Anthony Zucker of CBS-TV’s popular
Crime Scene Investigation franchise. But DRI’s Julie Miller, 38, did
just that when she was honored as one of In Business Las Vegas
magazine’s “40 Under 40.”
Begun five years ago, the award honors Las Vegas business leaders under 40 years of age who have distinguished themselves in
their professions and the community.
According to the publication, In Business Las Vegas readers nominated more than 150 people—topping the magazine’s record for any
award. It was from among this highly competitive field that Miller,
an assistant research hydrologist at DRI’s Las Vegas
campus, was selected to join an elite list of 40.
Much of Miller’s research is aimed at better
understanding how desert terrain surfaces respond
to rain. The magazine lauded the importance of this
work to the Las Vegas Valley, home to one of the nation’s largest
flood-control districts often pummeled by monsoon rains. “Her
work protects people’s lives and homes,” the publication said.
“I was very surprised and deeply honored to receive this award,”
Miller said. “Being able to do this kind of critical work is one of the
biggest benefits of working at DRI. But to have people in the business community recognize and honor the value of what we do for
Nevada and the nation, well, that’s icing on the cake.”
–Ron Kalb
DRI Looks Ahead with New Facilities Master Plan for more potential users as research priorities and faculty expertise
change over time.”
The plan also strives to create memorable, beautiful and enduring places that reflect the quality of work DRI is committed to. “We
changed focus from ‘people on the inside, cars on the outside,’” says
Ross. “We want to look at our buildings across open space, not parking lots like a shopping mall. We want to keep our vistas and views
intact, and create a friendly, people-centric campus environment.”
To those ends, future parking structures will be dug down into
hillsides on the Reno campus, and shielded by other building at the
Las Vegas campus. Natural site features—rock outcroppings and
historical mining sites in Reno, for instance—will be left intact.
In Las Vegas, these goals have led to what amounts to a reorienting of the campus. “The Las Vegas campus is much smaller, much
more urban, and has a much higher density than the Reno campus,”
explains Ross. “There we’ve created a people space, a central hub
connecting the surrounding buildings, and in doing so have kind of
turned our back on East Flamingo Road to focus on the relatively
open space of the adjacent Tropicana Wash.”
Accessibility and sustainability are priorities of the plan. “We will
have accessible routes in between all the major campus buildings. . .
Building locations, heights and orientation on both campuses will
optimize solar heating and cooling as well as daylighting strategies.
We’ve also preserved natural landscaping wherever we could and
used drought tolerant plantings.”
All of this, of course, fosters the scientific goals, programs and,
ultimately, people that are the heart of DRI. “The people make DRI
the creative, dynamic and innovative place that it is,” says Ross. “Our
success stems directly from them, and this plan and these facilities
are only meant to support them.”
–Jackie Allen
Can NEON light the way to a healthier planet?
with new technologies on the horizon.” Nanotechnology, sniffer technology, dedicated satellites and robotics, he says, are all among the tools
that will help make NEON effective.
And even though a completed NEON is some years away, the regional
planning process has been valuable. “There have been tangible benefits
already. . . It has allowed new networking, new exchange, new sources
for programs and ideas.”
All of which is a hopeful model for what the larger NEON network
8
–cont’d from page 4
–cont’d from page 5
will be. Because while everyone involved realizes they’ve bitten off a
huge proverbial mouthful, they also know that it’s crucial to keep on
chewing. “Yes it’s incredibly ambitious, but also timely. The planet is
changing in unprecedented ways. Forget whether it’s human-caused or
not, it’s going on. . . Greenhouse gases are rising, nitrogen deposition
is increasing in many areas, invasive species are a worldwide problem.
The question is, when does it take us to a different world?”
–Jackie Allen
The Nevada Desert Free-Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment, or FACE, Facility is the first and
only FACE facility in the world that is located in a desert ecosystem. Here, researchers from DRI, UNLV and UNR are investigating the effects of elevated CO2 levels on the
Mojave Desert ecosystem. Facilities like this are likely to become key components in
the National Ecological Observatory Network being proposed by the National Science
Foundation.
DRI’s Fulbright scholars are taking their gig on the road
Dr. Darko Koracin
Thanks to a recently awarded Fulbright grant, Dr. Darko Koracin,
an internationally renowned researcher in atmospheric sciences at
the Desert Research Institute, soon will share his expertise for a third
time in six years with graduate students in his homeland of Croatia.
Master’s and doctoral degree candidates at the University of Zagreb—
Koracin’s alma mater —will take an intense month-long graduate
class in atmospheric dispersion and air-quality modeling starting at
the end of May. A leading researcher in understanding atmospheric
flows over complex terrain and oceans, Koracin has been awarded
two other prestigious Fulbright grants to teach at the university.
“Graduate students in Croatia have excellent backgrounds in math
and physics, so I am able to lecture on advanced and novel topics
such as random particle modeling in addition to model construction
and testing,” Koracin said.
The year’s class will focus on measuring the predictability and
uncertainty of weather forecasting as well as its impact on coastal
and inland air quality in Croatia and nearby regions. Koracin has
used previous Fulbright research in Croatia to design his graduate atmospheric sciences classes at the University of Nevada, Reno,
where he teaches, supervises and advises students in master’s and
Ph.D. programs. But according to Koracin, the international crosspollination of ideas doesn’t stop there.
“This valuable, ongoing collaboration previously resulted in post-doc
visits from colleagues at the University of Zagreb in the areas of air quality
and ocean modeling. I also encourage Croatian students to apply for our
UNR graduate program, and I hope to see results soon,” Koracin said.
Dr. Joseph McConnell
Dr. Joseph McConnell is well known in Nevada and the United
States for landmark discoveries in global climate change gleaned
from ice cores extracted from the polar regions of Antarctica and
Greenland. McConnell is about to take his career to a new level via a
recently awarded Fulbright Scholarship that will allow him to be an
ambassador to Argentina. He will work in collaboration with South
American ice core experts who have retrieved a valuable ice core
from the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.
The partnership is a win-win situation: Argentina has a unique
ice core and the Desert Research Institute, where McConnell works,
has a one-of-a-kind, million dollar, ultra-trace chemistry lab that
can take chemical measurements down to an astonishingly small
parts per quadrillion level. Argentina’s ice core provides an additional data point in a larger ice core array, yielding a vital piece of
information to McConnell’s extensive research.
The extra ice core, which dates from 1850 to 1999, will complement existing ice core records that show how and what kind of
industrial, or human-caused pollution has affected global climate
change over the last several hundred years. McConnell’s primary
collaborator in Argentina will be Dr. Alberto Aristarain, who is
director of the Laboratorio de Estratigrafia Glaciar y Geoqumica del
Agua y de la Nieve.
As part of the commitments of the grant, McConnell will give six
seminars in Mendosa, Argentina, regarding recent U.S. research in
Above: Dr. Darko Koracin, second from right, with his past students in front of
the Geophysical Institute of the University of Zagreb in Croatia.
Below: Dr. Joseph McConnell, on a trip in the Pyrenees Mountains,
stands on the border between France and Spain.
developing historical records of climate,
meteorology, oceanic and atmospheric
circulation, sea ice extent, dust transport,
biogeochemical cycles, volcanism and environmental pollution from ice cores. He will
discuss seasonal snowpack issues affecting
Argentina, which shares many similarities
with Reno’s snow pack issues.
“Mendosa is primarily a wine-growing region, and like Reno, 80 to 90
percent of its surface water supplies come from snowmelt,” McConnell
said. “Global climate change could have major impacts on the snow
pack and glaciation in the Andes Mountains in Argentina, much like in
the Sierra Nevada, which supplies Reno’s water resources.”
As Fulbrighters, Koracin and McConnell join the ranks of
some 265,000 alumni of the program over the past 50 years. The
Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international
educational exchange, is made possible through funds appropriated annually by the U.S. Congress and by contributions from
partner countries and the private sector. The program sends 800
scholars and professionals each year to more than 140 countries, where they lecture or conduct research in a wide variety of
academic and professional fields.
–Heather Emmons
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the 2005
Nevada Medal Dinners
Reno photos courtesy of Andy Barron
Las Vegas photos courtesy of Steve Spatafore
1. In Reno (left to right): Mendy Elliott, B.J. North, Gail Sande and DRI Research Foundation trustee
Sylvia Samano
2. In Reno: Sean Smith and Senator Bernice Mathews.
3. In Reno (left to right): DRI Research Foundation trustee Steve Snyder, Patty Wade Snyder and John
Frederick.
4. In Reno (left to right): John Lilley, Regent Jill Derby and Steven Talbot.
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5. In Reno (left to right): B.J. North, Dale Raggio and DRI Research Foundation trustee Dawn Gibbons
6. In Reno (left to right): Senator Maurice Washington, Donna Washington and Senator Bill Raggio.
7. In Reno (left to right): Assemblywoman Peggy Pierce, Scott Craigie and Assemblyman Bernie
Anderson.
8. In Reno (left to right): Senator Randolph Townsend, DRI Research Foundation trustee Tom Gallagher,
Jennifer Johnson and Bonnie Gallagher.
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9. In Reno (left to right): Troy Anderson, Kristi Giudici, Marty Giudici, Carol La Gatta and Leslie RaggioRheggetti.
10. In Reno (left to right): DRI Research Foundation trustee Nazir Ansari, Gene Sullivan, Polly Malcolm,
2003 Nevada Medalist Charles Goldman and DRI Research Foundation Chair David Fulstone.
11. In Las Vegas (left to right): DRI President Stephen Wells, Regent Bret Whipple, 2005 Nevada Medalist
Donald Grayson, Regent Thalia Dondero, Regent Howard Rosenberg, Regent James Dean Leavitt and
Board of Regents Chair Stavros Anthony.
12. In Las Vegas (left to right): Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid, Henderson Mayor James Gibson,
and John Gardner.
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13. In Las Vegas (left to right): David Gibson, Jr., Marianne and John Gibson, Regent Dorothy Gallagher
and DRI Research Foundation trustee Fred Gibson, Jr.
14. In Las Vegas (left to right): Polly List, Marty Swartz, former Governor Bob List, Mary Wade, and DRI
Research Foundation trustee Troy Wade.
15. In Las Vegas (left to right): DRI Research Foundation trustee Tom Schoeman, Susan Schoeman,
Leah Benjamin, DRI Research Foundation trustee Mike Benjamin, Diana Wilson, Richard Carpenter,
Beth Wells, and DRI President Stephen Wells.
16. In Las Vegas: Bonnie and Frank Martin.
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17. In Las Vegas (left to right): Frank Tussing, DRI Research Foundation trustee Jeanne Jones and
Regent James Dean Leavitt.
18. In Las Vegas: DRI Research Foundation trustee James Kropid and Family.
19. In Las Vegas (left to right): DRI President Stephen Wells, DRI Research Foundation trustee Sylvia
Samano, Shelley Bass and Bob Bass.
20. In Las Vegas: Jerry and DRI Research Foundation trustee Lou Emmert.
21. In Las Vegas (left to right): Channel 8’s Paula Francis, 2005 Nevada Medalist Donald Grayson and
Channel 8’s Dave Courvoisier.
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22. In Las Vegas (left to right): DRI President Stephen Wells, Director of Governor Kenny Guinn’s Las
Vegas Office Maureen Brower and 2005 Nevada Medalist Donald Grayson.
23. In Reno: Shirley Smith and Phil Gillette.
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Nevada Medal Supporters
The DRI Research Foundation and DRI thank the following Nevada Medal Supporters and program donors.
Table Sponsors & Major Contributors
ALPHA Services
Dr. & Mrs. Arthur Anderson
Anderson Dairy
BankWest of Nevada
Bechtel SAIC Company, LLC
Mike & Leah Benjamin
Bruno & Edna Benna
Boomtown
Boyd Gaming
Clark & Sullivan Constructors
Ben Farahi
FASTFRAME
Tom Gallagher/
Summit Engineering Corporation
Fred Gibson, Jr.
Douglas Gilmour
Charles & Nancy Goldman
Hale Lane Peek Dennison & Howard
Howard Hughes Corporation
Jones Vargas
KB Home
James & Judy Kropid
Chris & Sara Maples
Martin Harris Construction
Sandy Masters
McDonald Carano Wilson
Claudia Miner
Nevada Alliance for Defense,
Energy & Business
Nevada Mining Association
Nevada Power Company
Nevada Test Site Historical
Foundation
Nevada Title Company
Robert & Del Noland
Northern Nevada Science Coalition
Cecile & Gordon Peters
Politek
Pulte Homes/Del Webb Nevada
Communities
Reno Gazette-Journal
The Resort at Red Hawk
R&R Partners
Jim & Beverly Rogers/
Sunbelt Communications
Sierra Health Services
Sierra Pacific Power Company
Shirley Morgan Smith
Stephen Snyder &
Patty Wade Snyder,
Wade/Lakemont Communities
St. Joseph, Husband of Mary Roman
Catholic Church
St. Rose Dominican Hospital
James & Colleen Taranik
Van Noy Consulting
Van Scoyoc Associates, Inc.
Wackenhut Services, Inc.
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Troy Wade II
Washoe Medical Center
Stephen & Bethany Wells
John & Christine Worthington
Supporters
Accountants Inc./Mike Micone
Lara Alberti
William Albright
Regent Mark Alden
Raymond Alden
Assemblywoman Francis Allen
Elaine Alexander
Senator Mark Amodei
Nazir & Mary Ansari
Regent Stavros Anthony
Arizona Charlie’s
W. Patrick Arnott
Arrow Creek Country Club
W. John Arthur III
Artown
Bob Ashby
Mike and Nitsa Auerbach
Australia’s Thunder from
Down Under
Avella Salon & Day Spa
Don Bailey
Frank Baldwin
Bob Balzar
Lynn Barclay
Bonnie Bartlett
Selma Bartlett
Louis Basso
Terry Basso
Colleen Beck & Keith Kolb
Beckley Singleton
Benton-Lane Winery
Congresswoman Shelley Berkley
Bertha Miranda’s
Mexican Restaurant & Cantina
Phil & Marie Bevins
Phyl Birch & Jim Waugh
Black Canyon River Adventure
Christine Bosse
David Bradley
Sue Brandt
Ralph Brodd
Dale Brown
Jonathan Brown
Michael J. Brown
Bruka Theatre
Paul Buck
Judge Al Burka
Steve & Linda Buszka
Reggie Burton
Lance Burton,
Monte Carlo Resort & Casino
Caesars Entertainment
Jerry & Judi Cail
Robert Cannon
Marla Carr
Joe Cervantes/Advertising
Specialties, Inc.
Nancy Chalmers
Jenny Chapman
Robert L. (Llee) Chapman
Bryan Cherry
Chicago Hot Dogs
Chuck’s Boulevard Pizza
Circus Circus Reno
Ken & Linda Ciriacks
Tyrus Cobb
Colosseum at Caesars Palace
Dawn Coots
Ryan Coots
D. Allison Copening
Mike Cordova & Esther Verzani
Scott Craigie
Becky Crowe
Hilary Crowley
The Cracked Egg
Junior Cruz
D’Andrea Golf Club
Skylo Dangler
Fred Davis
Walter Davis
Dayton Valley Golf Club
Deerfield Ranch Winery
Regent Jill Derby
Diamond Peak Ski Resort
Gary & Linda Dierks
Fini Dobyns
John Doherty & Cheryl Yee
Regent Thalia Dondero
Judge William and Angela Dressel
Frederick W. Dressler, Jr.
Thomas Dunton
Pete Earle
Julee Ebert
Laura Edwards
EG & G
Farouk El Baz
Elegant Party Rentals
Lou & Gerald Emmert
Heather Emmons
Empire Ranch Golf Course
U.S. Senator John Ensign
Marshall Evans
Doug Eubank
William L. & Cassidy Eubank
Executive Gift Source
Brad Fairchild
Fashion Show
Linda Ferguson
Russ Fields
Flamingo Las Vegas
Sara Ford
Karen Foster
Kay Fowler
The Four Seasons Hotel,
Veranda Room
Franke Contract Group/Robin Coots
Frank & Charlotte Franky
Freed’s Bakery
Dan Freeman
Tamera Freeman
Robert Freudenthaler
Chris Fritsen
Laura Fritz
David & Diane Fulstone
Dee Anne Fulstone
Regent Dorothy Gallagher
GameWorks
John Gardner II
Denise Gerbich
Assemblywoman Susan Gerhardt
Dawn Gibbons
Congressman Jim Gibbons
David Gibson, Jr.
Mayor James B. Gibson
J.R. Gibson
Marianne Gibson
Douglas Gilmour
Jason Glavish
Golden Nugget Las Vegas
Chelli Goldwater
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman
Grandma’s Fudge Factory
Great Basin Bird Observatory
Greek Isles Hotel & Casino
Green Valley Ranch
The Grill at Quail Corners
Cary Groth
Alvena Joanne Grover
Bob Grubic
Guggenheim Hermitage Museum
Marty Giudici
Ann Gustavson
Vicki Hall
Donald Hardesty
Toni Harris
Harry’s Bagelmania
Ted Hartwell
Gene Hattori
Anna Hauger
Scott Hauger
Gary Hausladen
Jill Heaton
Grizel Herhold
Assemblyman Lynn Hettrick
Walter Higgins III
Regent Douglas Roman Hill &
Susan Hill
Steve Hill
Barbara Hinsvark
Kent & Janet Hoekman
Darla Hoffman
Barbara Holz
Hoodsport Winery
Patricia Hughes
Fritzi Huntington
Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas
Resort
Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino
IN-N-OUT Burger Company
Barbara Jackson
Roger & Ellen Jacobson
Marilou Jarvis
Jason’s Deli
Bill Johnson
Kirk & Jessica Johnson
Jeanne Jones
Pat Jones
Mike Kelly
Brian Kennedy
Richard & Leslie Kennedy
Carol Kiel
Jeffrey Kinder
Beverly Kirkpatrick
Kate & Jay Kirkpatrick
Harold Klieforth
KNPB Channel 5 Public Television
William Kotis
Roger Kreidberg
Tom & Jane Krob
State Treasurer Brian Krolicki
David Kropid
Ron & Susan Krump
KUNR 88.7 FM Public Radio
Labels Consignment Shop
Ladeki Restaurant Group
Lake Mead Cruises
Judith Lancaster/Woodworks
Diana Lanchart
Chris Larson
Trudy Larson
Las Vegas 51s
Las Vegas Harley-Davidson
Paul Laxalt
Regent James Dean Leavitt
Gerard Lees
The Legacy Golf Club
Liberace Museum
John Lilley
Governor Robert List
Cindy Littlefield
Eric & Michelle Lopez
Luciano’s
LynOaken Farms/The Apple Depot
Ian & Carol Mackinlay
Magnolia Club/Felicite Endeavours
Kathleen Mahon, M.D.
Barbara Malinky & Kevin Crifani
Brian Marcus
Marie Callendar’s
Restaurant & Bakery
Marrakech
Karen Marshall
Cara Martin
Cheryl Martin
Frank Martin
Senator Bernice Mathews
Bobbie McClure
Dick & Charlotte McConnell
McCormick Family Trust
McCormick & Schmick’s
John McDonald
Don McHarg
Jerry McNeish
Nanette Merlino
Amber Michael
Carol & Rachel Michael
Midnight Cellars Winery & Vineyard
Franklin Miller & Kathy Smith-Miller
Julie Miller
Leslie Miller
Regina Miller
Mimi’s Café
Michael E. Minden Jewelers
Rebecca Miner
Roberta Miner
Tim Minor
Mirage Hotel and Casino
Monte Carlo Resort & Casino
Elizabeth Moore
Ann Morgan & Bruce Beesley
Russell Morgan
Helen Mortenson
David Mouat
Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe
Joel Muller
Terry Murphy/Strategic Solutions
Alison Murray & Bruce Strickrott
Raymond A. Nash, Jr.
NEVADA Magazine/Rich Moreno
Nevada Woman, Inc.
Graig Newell
Nicolas Cole Cellars
Gerald Niederwestermann
Majken Nilsson
Senator Dennis Nolan
Northstar at Tahoe
Susann Oakum
Oasis Resort and Casino
Maureen O’Bannon
Mary O’Donnell
Charles O’Hara
Cynthia O’Kelly
Shawn Oliphant
Paradigm Winery
Assemblywoman Bonnie Parnell
Paymon’s Mediterranean
Café & Lounge
Bob & Cecelia Pearce
Andrew Pearl
Peppermill Hotel Casino
Lenee Perez
Assemblyman Richard Perkins
Kim Phillips
Linda Piehl
Assemblywoman Peggy Pierce
Pirate’s Gourmet Pizza
Cyndee Platko, GNC
Pneumatic Diner
Congressman Jon Porter
Mark Potosnak
Carolyn Prusa
Dale Puhl
David Randolph
J.T. and Lindé Ravizé/
A Frame of Mind Gallery
Red Hawk Golf Club
Kenneth Rehfeldt
U.S. Senator Harry Reid
Reno Philharmonic
Dave & Allise Rhode
Douglas Richards
Dave Richardson
Judy Ries
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Jeffrey Riterhold
Riviera Hotel & Casino
Trudy Rocha
Craig & Melodi Rodrigue
Maisie Ronnow
Regent Howard Rosenberg
Stephen Rucker
Kyle Ruf
Yvonne Rumbaugh
Rush County Community Foundation
Don Sada
SageCreek Grill & Taproom
Sylvia Samano
San Francisco Giants
Jeffery Saunders
Scott Scherer
Mary Lee Schmidt/
Baskets by Mary Lee
Sherril Schmidt
Rick Schneider/WPBT Channel 2
Public Broadcasting/Miami
Tom Schoeman
Richard Schori
Assemblyman Bob Seale
See’s Candies
David Shafer & Robin Sweeney
Shakeji, Inc.
Pat Shalmy
Mark Shank
Saxon Sharpe & Floyd Dean
Larry Sheetz
Carol Shimer
ShopKo
Assemblyman Scott Sibley
Sierra Machinery, Inc.
Sierra Wine Cellar
Silver Oak Golf Course
Silver Peak Restaurant & Brewery
Silverstone Golf Club
Roger Slaboch
Assemblywoman Debbie Smith
John Smith
Lori Soren
Southwest Airlines
SporThings
Station Casinos
Steiner’s Pub
Joe Stockett
Robert Stoeckig
Lizanne Stoever
K. Anne Street
Studio 302
Sugar Bowl
Mark Sullivan
Sundance Bookstore
Sun Ridge Golf Club
Tahoe Ridge Winery & Marketplace
John Tennert
Karen Rae Abbott Terrin
T.G.I. Friday’s
Jim & Karen Thomas
William A. “Tom” Thomas
Michele Thompson
Three Lakes Winery
Thunder Canyon Golf Course
Time Square Jewelers
Senator Randolph Townsend
Frank & Gerri Tussing
UNLV Women’s Basketball
UNR Athletic Department
Ruth Urban
Terry & Betsy Van Noy
Nick VanderPoel
Dirk Venderink
Mary Lou Veit
Vintage Book Nook
Sue Wagner
Howard Wahl
Kelsey Walker
David Wall
Robert & Tracy Walsh
Kenda Walters
Tom Warden
Senator Maurice Washington
Loretta Watson
Bonnie Weaver
Assemblywoman Valerie Weber
Denny Weddle
Westport Rivers Vineyard & Winery
Stephen W. Wheatcraft
Regent Bret Whipple
Whispering Vine Wine Company
Wiederkehr Wine Cellars, Inc.
Bob Wilkie
Alan Will
Beth Williams
Glenn Wilson
Wolf Run Golf Club
Marvin Wollin
Susan Woodin
Ming Ye
Barbara Yoerg
Michael Young
Tom Young
Zen Skin Care by Valerie/Valerie Doll
Dongzi Zhu
L.R. Zimmerman
Volunteers
Austin Chapman
Jane Chapman
Jenny Chapman
Mary Collins
Ryan Coots
Sue DeSilva
Heather Duras
Marjory Jones
Jennifer Lease
Cindy Littlefield
Eric & Michelle Lopez
Maureen O’Bannon
Cindy O’Kelly
Melissa Petty
Linda Piehl
Stefanie Rowland-Fleischmann
Kyle Ruf
Amy Russell
Cindy Sargent
Sherril Schmidt
Melanie Scott
Kristen Self
Ann Stine
Karen Turner
Kerry Varley
Kelsey Walker
13
DRI honors Sierra Pacific, Nevada Power, GreenPower chair
with President’s Medals
Above: DRI Foundation Board Member
Jim Kropid accepts the President’s Medal
from Dr. Stephen Wells.
Below: Sierra Pacific Resources CEO and
DRI Foundation Board Member Walter
Higgins accepts the President’s Medal
from Dr. Stephen Wells on behalf of Sierra
Pacific Power Co. and Nevada Power Co.
Sierra Pacific Power Co., Nevada Power Co. and Jim Kropid, chair of DRI Research Foundation’s
GreenPower Committee were honored with President’s Medals at DRI’s 18th annual Nevada Medal
Dinner. The honors were made in recognition of outstanding contributions to DRI’s GreenPower
program. Sierra Pacific Resources CEO Walt Higgins accepted the medal on behalf of the power
companies.
The President’s Medal is awarded each year by DRI President Dr. Stephen G. Wells to companies
or individuals to acknowledge exceptional service or support of DRI and its mission. These medals
are presented in lieu of the honorary doctorates or similar forms of recognition traditional among
the Nevada System of Higher Education’s teaching campuses.
Sierra Pacific and Nevada Power companies were chosen for unwavering commitment as partners
in the GreenPower program. Since its inception in 2000, the program has brought renewable energy
to seven schools in Nevada—four in the north and three in the south. Kropid was selected for being
a champion of the program, spearheading efforts to reach as many students as possible, speaking
with community leaders and working tirelessly with DRI to make the installations happen.
Each middle school receives a solar array and accompanying wind generator installed atop
the school. The GreenPower program is a partnership among the Desert Research Institute, DRI’s
Research Foundation and the power companies. The program is supported by voluntary customer
contributions made by customers of Nevada Power and Sierra Pacific Power companies through
their monthly utility bills. All contributions are 100 percent tax deductible.
“Each school saves approximately $500 a year in energy costs, but that’s a collateral benefit.
The real value is education—science teachers incorporate renewable energy curriculum into their
lesson plans and use the array as a hands-on learning tool,” Wells says. “Without the help of Sierra
Pacific and Nevada Power staff to ensure that the installations take place properly; and without Jim
Kropid’s leadership, the GreenPower program certainly wouldn’t see the incredible success it has
had in such a short time.”
DRI welcomes new faculty to both campuses
Dr. Jianting “Julian” Zhu
Assistant Research Professor
Dr. Julian Zhu brings mountains of hydrological modeling knowhow to the dry desert valley of DRI’s southern Nevada campus. Zhu’s
academic knowledge spans two continents, with a
bachelor’s degree in engineering mechanics and a
master’s degree in fluid mechanics from China, as
well as a Ph.D. in civil engineering from Canada.
Prior to joining DRI, he worked in the agricultural
engineering department at Texas A&M as a research
scientist, looking at contaminant transport in the
subsurface and soil hydraulic property upscaling, which he started in Riverside, Calif., where he
worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“Upscaling involves looking at small points or areas of land and
then aggregating the results up into a large-scale format to determine what’s going on between those points across the entire area as
a whole,” Zhu explains.
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Zhu’s research interests focus on numerical modeling of hydrology and
hydraulics, or fluid in motion. Today, he is starting a few research projects at
DRI – one for the U.S. Geological Survey looking at soil hydraulic properties
through upscaling at the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, 20 miles north of
Las Vegas. The other larger project, a collaboration with the
University of Nevada, Reno, involves analyzing evapotranspiration, or how much water is evaporating versus how much is
being retained by the soil, in the Great Basin. Numerical scaling
upward from small, localized areas, as well as downscaling
from satellite images allows Zhu to produce computer models
that measure the fluxes across different boundaries.
Other projects include developing ways to predict the
transport of a polymer called polyacrylamide, or PAM, if it
is introduced into irrigation canals and how to support best
management practices through this effort. The idea is to control water
seepage loss into the canal bottom and to fight soil erosion by using PAM.
He is also looking at tritium vapor transport in soil formations and subsequent tritium uptakes by plants.
“I am finding DRI to be much more interesting than previous
jobs I’ve had – more of a challenge and change for my career,” Zhu
says. “And my wife likes it here too because it’s a lot bigger and more
interesting than where we came from.”
Dr. Mark Potosnak
Assistant Research Professor
DRI researchers are always uncovering new information that
sheds light on how ecosystems work and how they are affected
by humans. New faculty member Dr. Mark Potosnak’s interest in
the complex interactions between the terrestrial biosphere and
the atmosphere fits right into that mission, as he brings with him
master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Earth and environmental sciences,
as well as field experience in Brazil and Costa Rica.
Potosnak’s research focuses on a concept many don’t realize
exists: poor air quality isn’t solely caused by humans through things
like cars and power plants. It is
also affected by biogenic volatile
organic compounds (BVOCs),
or chemical compounds emitted by trees and plants naturally.
For instance, a class of BVOCs
called monoterpenes, that are
responsible for the odor of pine
trees, are the trees’ defense against insect attack. However, when
combined with human-produced emissions, they can spell trouble
by increasing harmful ozone levels.
The Environmental Protection Agency sets standards on ozone
concentrations, but figuring out whether higher levels are coming from
natural or man-made sources and finding the right balance for cities is
a hot topic.
“We now know that BVOCs are involved in air quality issues and
that’s how this area of study was started. But the difficulty lies in
measuring the highly reactive BVOCs because they are gone immediately once they leave a plant or tree,” Potosnak says. “We still have
a lot to learn.”
To better understand how to track BVOCs in desert vegetation,
Potosnak is working with graduate student Maria Papiez at the
Nevada System of Higher Education’s Nevada Desert FACE Facility,
located on the Nevada Test Site. The Free-Air-Carbon dioxideEnrichment Facility is the only arid-ecosystem research facility
in the world addressing the effects of elevated carbon dioxide in
a large setting.
Dr. Duane Moser
Assistant Research Professor
Perusing Dr. Duane Moser’s work history reveals he is a
person who will go to great lengths, traveling far and wide, for
his microbial research. At a glance: deepwater coring work on
Lake Michigan aboard a research vessel; a summer course in
Antarctica; and postdoctoral work at Princeton University, managing studies in South Africa using ultradeep mines as a “window”
into unexplored deep subsurface microbial communities. And it
doesn’t stop there.
A second post-doc led him to Pacific Northwest National Lab
in Richland, Wash. where he contributed to projects focused on
the role of microbes in subsurface contaminant transport to the
Columbia River from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford
Site. A high point was the revelation that indigenous riverbed and
soil microbes should have the capacity to intercept uranium,
chromium and nitrate from mobile plumes prior to their entry
into the river.
Moser’s experience in microbiology was sought by not one division, but two at the Desert Research Institute, so he works with both
the Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences and the Division of
Hydrologic Sciences. Here, he applies a combination of molecular
and classical approaches to track microbes and their activities in
the environment. Since most wild microbes cannot be cultivated in
the lab, a specialty of Moser’s involves molecular DNA approaches
to probe the large proportion of microbial life that was previously
inaccessible and unknown to science.
“Fundamentally, what we
do is collect total DNA from
an environmental sample
and then study sequences
of interest using a variety of
techniques. DNA-based technologies allow us to clarify
evolutionary relationships
between major groupings of
microbes we didn’t even know existed a decade ago,” Moser says.
Like many DRI colleagues who study the tiniest of particles and
matter, Moser is acquiring specialized instrumentation to look at
bacteria-sized particles in natural samples. A special machine
using a laser allows him to “see” individual microbial cells and
record many thousands of events per second, revealing cell size and
number, growth rate (inferred from DNA/RNA content) and whether
they are alive or dead. He plans to combine the method with gene
probing to enable the direct reconstruction of plankton and picoplankton community structure.
Moser has a proposal pending to study microbes and biomarker
preservation in history’s deepest/oldest lake core, to be collected
next summer from Qinghai Lake in Tibet. Other proposals include
studying microbes and their effects on radionuclide transport deep
below the Nevada Test Site. He also is working with NASA and DRI
researchers on proposals aimed at ground-truthing Mars orbital
spectrometer data and long-distance atmospheric transport of
microbes on earth. Also in the works is planning NSF’s proposed
Deep Underground Science Lab project.
–Heather Emmons
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DRI loses former colleague, longtime friend
DRI employees recently mourned the passing of Dr. Joseph A. Warburton, 81,
former executive director of DRI’s Atmospheric Sciences Center, who died April 30.
After emigrating from Australia, Warburton worked for DRI from May, 1965 to
June, 1992 as a research professor, deputy director, acting director and executive
director for the Atmospheric Sciences Center.
In a message to employees, DRI President Dr. Stephen G. Wells said he was deeply
saddened by the news. “Dr. Warburton played an essential role in the growth and
development of the Atmospheric Sciences Center and served as acting director (president) of DRI from 1969 to 1970. He remained supportive of DRI throughout his retirement and will be sorely missed by all of us at the institution,” Wells said.
Warburton’s scientific work is described in more than 120 papers, and he
conducted research worldwide. He was a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics,
a member of the American Meteorological Society, the North American Interstate
Council on Weather Modification and the Antarctican Society. At the time of his death,
he was working on a weather-modification program he developed for the Snowy
Mountains Hydro-electric Authority in Australia.
Anthropology and hydrogeology students
receive Jonathan O. Davis Scholarship Award
The family, colleagues and friends of Jonathan O. Davis, a prominent geologist
and geoarchaeologist, established an endowment which provides one $4,000 annual
national scholarship and one $1,500 stipend for a University of Nevada, Reno student.
Davis was a member of DRI’s faculty from 1980 to 1990.
DRI News is published by the Desert
Research Institute, a nonprofit, statewide
division of the Nevada System of Higher
Education. DRI is internationally recognized
for excellence in environmental research.
Eighty-seven percent of the Institute’s
budget comes from research grants and
contracts. DRI operates the Dandini
Research Park in Reno. Articles appearing in DRI News may be reprinted without
restriction unless noted otherwise.
Vice President for Institutional
Advancement
Dr. Claudia Miner
Editor
Heather Emmons
Contributors
Jackie Allen
Heather Emmons
Ron Kalb
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Printing by Bear Industries
755 East Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV
89119-7363
(702) 862-5400
2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, NV
89512-1095
(775) 673-7300
E-mail: [email protected]
www.dri.edu
DRI congratulates the following 2005 recipients:
Joy M. Giffin, a first year master’s of science student studying hydrogeology, has
been awarded the national scholarship. Her research is titled “Geomorphic study of
storage, stability and transport of sediment in desert basins during periods of paleoclimate change.”
Geoffrey M. Smith, a master’s of science student studying anthropology, has been
awarded the stipend. His research is titled “Logistical and residential mobility among
early-period hunter gatherers in northwest Nevada.”
Desert Research Institute is committed to Equal Employment Opportunity/
Affirmative Action in recruitment of its
students and employees and does not
discriminate on the basis of race, color,
religion, sex, age, creed, national origin,
veteran status, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation. DRI employs
only United State citizens and aliens
lawfully authorized to work in the United
States. Women and under-represented
groups are encouraged to apply.
NONPROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
RENO, NV
PERMIT NO. 127
2215 Raggio Parkway
Reno, NV 89512-1095
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