Lab Description

(Above) A view of the GBERL building at dusk.

The Dorothy S. Gallagher Great Basin Environmental Research Laboratory (DSG-GBERL) was developed by the Desert Research Institute as a multidisciplinary research facility for the study of plant, ecosystem and biosphere function, and global environmental change. This laboratory — named for former Regent Mrs. Dorothy S. Gallagher who was instrumental in helping DRI secure private financing to construct this research facility — is uniquely equipped to address a wide range of research areas including:

• The role of biological and land surface processes in controlling the fluxes of trace gases.
• Fate and effects of chemical contaminants.
• Global environmental change effects on terrestrial ecosystems.
• Validation of regional and global environmental system models.

This facility is dedicated to the measurement of whole ecosystem processes under controlled environmental conditions. By integrating laboratories, naturally and artificially illuminated growth chambers, and the unique mesocosms known as EcoCELLs; ecosystem processes can be studied across numerous levels of biological organization tracking the origin and ramification of responses to environmental conditions.

The DSG-GBERL is located in Reno, Nevada, where 300-plus days of sunshine per year, moderate temperatures and low atmospheric humidity provide an ideal climate setting for the facility.

• Airborne Toxics
• Impact of Elevated CO₂ on Forests Ecosystems
• Trace Gas Exchange
• Stress Physiology of Plants
• Vadose Zone Hydrology, Chemistry and Biology
• Tropospheric Ozone and Biotic Resources
• Soil Chemistry and Nutrient Cycling
• Microbial Ecology of Cold Deserts