DRI News Clips

Search: Current Month Current Year 2008 2007 All 12 Results Found. November 20th, 2009 Title: Good news - Reno Gazette-Journal Article: A scientist at the Desert Research Institute in Reno has been awarded more than $3.2 million to study ice cores and climate change in the Arctic and Antarctic. Joseph McConnell is a research professor in the Division of Hydrologic Sciences and director of its Ultra-Trace Chemistry Laboratory. The National Science Foundation grants will fund five projects, such as how short-lived aerosols, including those generated by wildfires, affect the Earth's climate and the accumulation variability of ice sheet snow in Greenland in collaboration with the University of Utah. November 16th, 2009 Title: Joe Biden visit signals hard race for Dina Titus - Las Vegas Sun Article: Bracing for a tough election cycle in 2010, the White House sent Vice President Joe Biden to Las Vegas Sunday to boost the campaign coffers of Democratic Rep. Dina Titus. Biden's visit is the largest indication yet that Nevada's 3rd Congressional District is a top priority for the Obama administration and Democrats as they seek to maintain congressional majorities and stem losses in next year's midterm elections. The vice president told more than 150 people at a private fundraiser at the Atomic Testing Museum that he had campaigned in 54 House districts this year. November 16th, 2009 Title: Cloud seeding would aid state - Reno Gazette-Journal Article: I find the Desert Research Institute snow-making issue amazing. We are in a desert and should take any action we can to get water into our closed basins. Cloud seeding works! I was the commander of the Marine base in Pickle Meadows in the 1990s. We had one of the ground stations just behind our base. In June, when all the other snow was gone, the downwind side of the mountain with the snow generator had enough snow to teach snow caves to the survival students; all the other snow was gone from that elevation. The plane that crashed killing Al Redick was able to chase snow clouds across the state and seed them to milk snow. Think about the storm that swept over us in October but dumped two feet in Colorado. We could have had some of that valuable moisture. Do not be penny wise and pound foolish with the water available. R.L. Polak, Reno November 15th, 2009 Title: TMWA to consider extra watering day for Reno residents - Reno Gazette-Journal Article: Reno-area residents would be able to water their lawns three days per week instead of two under a new long-term strategy for the area's primary water provider. If approved by the Truckee Meadows Water Authority board on Dec. 16, the three-day-per-week watering schedule could be in place as soon as the coming spring. TMWA research shows customers restricted to only two days of watering per week "really pour the water on" but that irrigation practices are more moderate over a three-day period. ... In 2006 and 2009, utility experts teamed with scientists with the Desert Research Institute to determine whether climate change should be factored into water management decisions. Results were highly variable and do not indicate the need for a change in water management practices in the Reno-Tahoe area at this time, the report said. "Thus far, it's just kind of watch for any future trends and adjust if we have to," Foree said of climate change. November 15th, 2009 Title: Wagner honored by alma mater in Arizona - Reno Gazette-Journal Article: Sue Wagner has long been recognized as one of Nevada's great public servants, and now our sister state of Arizona has paid tribute as well. Wagner, who has served as lieutenant governor, assembly-woman, state senator, on the Gaming Control Board and in a host of other capacities in Nevada, traveled to her former hometown of Tucson, Ariz., last week to be honored with the University of Arizona Alumni Association's Professional Achievement Award. The award is given to recipients who "attain exceptional prominence and recognition in their field." ... Wagner moved to Reno in 1969 with her husband Peter, and their two children, Kirk and Kristina. Peter, a scientist with the Desert Research Institute, was killed in a plane crash in 1980. November 14th, 2009 Title: Builders honor industry's best with BANN-ER Awards - Reno Gazette-Journal Article: The Builders Association of Northern Nevada honored the industry's best Friday at its 13th Annual BANN-ER Awards at the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa. Several new awards, along with new companies taking part in the event, led to a great turnout this year, said Missy Hinton, BANN's director of communications and public relations. Many entries also were quite creative, Hinton added. ... Here is a list of this year's winners: Best Green Public Works: Sheehan Van Woert Bigotti Architects, Desert Research Institute CRVB. November 13th, 2009 Title: Nevada Researcher Gets Grant to Study Ice Cores - KOLO-TV Reno Article: A scientist at the Desert Research Institute in Reno has been awarded more than $3.2 million in grant funding to study ice cores and climate change in the Arctic and Antarctic. Joseph McConnell is a research professor in DRI's Division of Hydrologic Sciences and director of its Ultra-Trace Chemistry Laboratory. The bulk of the money from the National Science Foundation is grants from the American Recovery and Restoration Act. Officials say it will fund five projects. One study will focus on how short-lived aerosols, including those generated by wildfires, affect the Earth's climate. Another project, in collaboration with the University of Utah, will study the accumulation variability of ice sheet snow in Greenland. Additional Links: Contra Costa Times - Walnut Creek,CA   KFMB-TV, San Diego   San Jose Mercury News November 13th, 2009 Title: Water commission OK's cloud seeding funds - Reno Gazette-Journal Article: Final funding needed to ensure a program to wring extra moisture out of winter storms can continue this year was approved today by regional water officials. The Western Regional Water Commission OK'd a request by the Desert Research Institute to provide up to $45,000 to continue its cloud seeding program, poised to shut down in the wake of state budget cuts. The commitment follows a $161,150 pledge made last month by the Truckee Meadows Water Authority and ensures the program can fully continue this winter, boosting snowfall in the Truckee and Tahoe Basins, said Ken Kunkel chief of DRI's Division of Atmospheric Sciences. November 13th, 2009 Title: Weighing in on solar proposals - Pahrump Valley Times Article: The proposed solar energy zones in Lincoln County, in southeastern Nevada, drew most of the negative comments in a programmatic environmental impact statement on solar energy being prepared by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. But some environmental groups expressed concerns over solar energy in Amargosa Valley. A 32,699-acre tract of western Amargosa Valley, just east of the U.S. Ecology plant, is being proposed as one of 24 zones nationwide that will receive intense scrutiny for permitting under a fast track process. ... The Nevada Wilderness Project said the desert horned lizard, desert iguana and long-nosed leopard lizard were also recorded in the Amargosa Valley solar energy study zone. The site however is outside a 25-mile buffer zone set by the Nevada State Water Engineer to protect the endangered Devil's Hole pupfish, though the orgnaization said there is still controversy over the biological meaning of that buffer. November 7th, 2009 Title: Council to debate development of 112 homes in Forest Hills - Martinez News-Gazette - Martinez,CA Article: ... The Council is also expected to sign a Letter of Intent indicating its unanimous support for a proposal brought forth by Planning Commissioner Rachel Ford. At the Sept. 23 City Council meeting, Ford revealed her notions for the creation of the Delta Research Institute, a scientific research facility, using one of the buildings and acreage of the former Zocchi property, directly across from the Amtrak station. "At this point [the proposed Institute] is in the conceptual stage," said Ford on Monday. When asked about the suggested Institute's management, Ford replied that first a board of directors would be selected, who in turn would decide administrative matters. Who would be on the board of directors of such a facility? "We are not making that public…the letter of intent enables me to go forward [in securing] bigger funding sources." Ford referenced Nevada's Desert Research Institute as one possible model for creating a similar research facility in Martinez, providing the infrastructure to assemble scientists studying the Delta Estuary. November 3rd, 2009 Title: The Great Basin Watershed - Amy Harris Journalism 107/108 [UNR] Article: The Great Basin watershed, a 200,000-square-mile area covering most of Nevada and many other western states, faces future dryness likened to the Sahara desert, Newberry Professor Wallas S. Broecker said. As carbon dioxide levels rise and the global climate changes, precipitation increases in the tropics and decreases in the desert. "When the climate was cold, it was wetter and the lakes were bigger," Broecker said. "As it warms, the lakes get smaller and it gets much drier. This is very bad news for the Great Basin. If we don't stop putting CO2 in the air, living in the Great Basin in 30 years will be like living in the Sahara." Broecker spoke at the International Symposium on Terminus Lakes on Oct. 27-29 at the University of Nevada, Reno. The event focused on different areas of scientific research, notably among the connection of global water rhythms, climate change and local water issues. The Great Basin watershed provides water to all of Reno, fisheries, reservations and croplands. The drying out of this invaluable resource threatens the existence of life in the area. Studies of terminus lakes in the Great Basin are needed to predict future changes and to improve local water management Stephen Wells, Desert Research Institute President said. "Terminus lakes and watersheds hold clues to past climates," Wells said. "That record can help predict the future, especially when we're dealing with climate change." November 2nd, 2009 Title: Atomic Testing Museum Remembers Science, Sacrifice - The Rebel Yell [UNLV] Article: Sen. Reid, Reps. Berkley, Titus observe first Day of Remembrance at Desert Research Institute In the process of creating weapons of mass destruction to serve the purpose of warfare, many scientists and lab workers unknowingly gave their health and in many cases, their lives, for the cause. The first annual Day of Remembrance ceremony was held Oct. 30 at the Atomic Testing Museum to honor those men and women who worked on test sites and in labs all over the country and who sacrificed their health, time and lives to develop nuclear weapons such as the atomic bomb during the Cold War. The ceremony commemorated the lives of those men and women who worked at the Nevada Test Site and developed disabling cancers and other diseases from exposure. "Thousands and thousands of men and women worked on test sites and in national labs," said Troy Wade, president of the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation. "Not only were their lives impacted, but their health was impacted."