RENO, Nev. – The Desert Research Institute is awarding the $15,000 George B. Maxey Fellowship to Graduate Research Assistant Chris Shope, who plans to use the fellowship to study a portion of the Truckee River to better understand what nutrients are available in small sediment islands, which will improve the larger-scale Truckee River restoration efforts. Currently there is an increasing demand in the implementation of programs to restore the river to a naturally functioning condition. Shope, who is working toward his Ph.D. in hydrology at the University of Nevada, Reno, sees his research as applicable to increasing the ability of the river to sustain aquatic species and their associated habitats, support recreational activities and to assimilate increasing nutrient loads.

Maxey, a renowned hydrogeologist, was an early and prominent director of DRI's Water Resources Center who established the first Ph.D. program in Nevada's higher education system. He and his wife, Jane, also provided considerable extracurricular support and guidance for the hydrology and hydrogeology graduate students. The Maxey Building at DRI's Northern Nevada Science Center in Reno is named in Dr. Maxey's memory.

The fellowship was established by the late Elizabeth "Betty" West Stout, a paleontologist who was a longtime supporter of DRI and a friend of the late Maxeys. Stout underwrote numerous research and fundraising activities, and the Institute's conference center in the Northern Nevada Science Center in Reno is named in her memory.