Seek further collaboration and investment from Asia's leading scientists and research institutions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 17, 2012

(RENO) - The Desert Research Institute signed an innovative Memorandum of Understanding with China's Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2002.

That initial collaboration has since led to more than 10 years of successful scientific endeavors between Nevada's top scientists and China's leading academic institutions, including the preservation of one of China's national treasures - the Terra-Cotta Warriors.

This week Dr. Stephen Wells, DRI President, and Dr. Judith Chow, an internationally renowned air quality expert in DRI's Division of Atmospheric Sciences, will return to Asia to build on that collaboration with prestigious Chinese representatives such as Dr. Junji Cao, current President of the Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Wells and Chow will be traveling as part of a delegation led by Governor Brian Sandoval on a trade mission to identify business opportunities for Nevada companies and to encourage Chinese and South Korean investment in Nevada.

"I'm very excited to be a part of Governor Sandoval's trade mission," Dr. Wells said, noting the great potential such an undertaking has for both the state of Nevada and the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Korea. "Beyond the relationships DRI has fostered with Chinese scientists and research institutions, this trip encourages new opportunities for the Nevada System of Higher Education that will have a lasting impact on every aspect of our state's economy."

Dr. Chow, who has been instrumental in leading DRI's ground-breaking collaborative work with Chinese scientists, most recently focusing on preservation techniques used to maintain remnants of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Terra-Cotta Army, notes the Governor's trade mission has the ability to tout more than business for Nevada.

A critical component to the success of such scientific undertakings as the Terra-Cotta preservation, said Dr. Chow, is the international exchange of researchers and ideas. When students and scientists travel abroad, she explains, their presence can have both positive cultural and economic impacts in the communities they call home while learning and training with their international counterparts.