Behind the Science Blog
DRI’s “Behind the Science” blog featuring our people and projects
Read the stories below to learn more about the amazing people and projects happening at DRI.
New study explores relationship between dust and Valley Fever
Vic Etyemezian, Ph.D., is the Interim Vice President of Research at the Desert Research Institute (DRI) and specializes in the study of dust emissions. Vic has been a member of the DRI community since 1999, when he started his career at DRI as a post-doctoral scientist with the Division of Atmospheric Sciences in Las Vegas. He recently published a paper in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health titled “Valley Fever: Environmental Risk Factors and Exposure Pathways Deduced from Field Measurements in California,” working alongside colleagues Antje Lauer, Ph.D. (California State University Bakersfied), George Nikolich, M.S. (DRI), and others, so we connected with Vic to learn more about the project.
DRI scientists investigate effectiveness of heat warnings along US-Mexico border
Featured research by DRI’s Kristin VanderMolen, Ben Hatchett, Erick Bandala, and Tamara Wall.
In July and August, daytime temperatures along parts of the US-Mexico border can reach as high as 120 degrees – more than 20 degrees above normal human body temperature. For agricultural workers and others who live and work in the region, exposure to these extreme high temperatures can result in serious health impacts including heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and heat-related death.
Engineered Processes for the Separation and Degradation of Microplastics in Freshwater
Photo: The sand band used to prepare hydrochar from microplastics. Credit: Erick Bandala/DRI. By Nicole Damon, Nevada Water Resources Research Institute Microplastics, plastic fragments that are smaller than 5 mm in any dimension, have been...
Featured Research: DRI scientists analyze origins of the Saharan dust plume
On June 18, 2020, NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite captured this visible image of the large light brown plume of Saharan dust over the North Atlantic Ocean. The image showed that the dust from Africa’s west coast extended almost to the Lesser...
Meet Sandra Brugger, Ph.D.
Sandra Brugger, Ph.D., is a Postdoctoral Researcher with DRI's Division of Hydrologic Sciences, and a Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Fellow. DRI: What brought you to DRI? Brugger: I started at DRI in October 2019 with an Early Postdoc...
Meet Gai Elhanan, M.D.
Gai Elhanan, M.D., is a health data scientist with the Division of Earth and Ecosystems Sciences at the Desert Research Institute in Reno. He specializes in health care informatics, and is a physician with more than 12 years of experience in...
New donor-powered research underway to address climate adaptation, water resources, and more
The DRI Foundation has just awarded the next round of seed grants to six teams of researchers through the Innovation Research Program (IRP). The IRP provides the start-up funding DRI scientists need to test new ideas and produce initial data, which...
Meet Tiffany Pereira, M.S.
Meet Tiffany Pereira, M.S.7MAY, 2020Botany Research Scientific IllustrationMeet DRI scientist Tiffany Pereira and learn about her work in botany and scientific illustration in this interview with DRI's Behind the Science blog.Tiffany Pereira, M.S.,...
Meet Ben Hatchett
Benjamin Hatchett, Ph.D., is an assistant research professor in the Division of Atmospheric Sciences at the Desert Research Institute in Reno. Ben has been a member of the DRI community since 2005 when he began as an undergraduate lab assistant. He...
Why scientists are studying stories during the COVID-19 pandemic
The family dinner table. The water cooler with coworkers. Your social media feed. Bedtime with your toddler. What do all these places have in common? They’re full of stories. Look closely at your day and, chances are, you’ll notice that stories...
Meet Steve Bacon, M.S.
Steve Bacon, M.S., P.G., C.E.G. is an associate research scientist of geomorphology with the Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences at the Desert Research Institute in Reno and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Nevada, Reno. Steve...
Meet Ken McGwire, Ph.D.
Ken McGwire, Ph.D., is an associate research professor of geography with the Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences at the Desert Research Institute in Reno. He specializes in environmental mapping, monitoring and modeling using satellite imagery...
People-powered research: Citizen science makes microplastics discovery at Lake Tahoe possible
Take a moment to picture a scientist who has made a groundbreaking discovery. What does that person look like? Perhaps it’s a person in a white coat standing in a lab with microscopes and test tubes, or a distinguished professor accepting an award...