Featured projects Archives

A woman talking on a stage with a projector behind her

Indigenous Storytelling at the 2026 NV STEAM Conference

By DRI Communications | Apr 8, 2026 | Featured projects, DRI Communications

Last month at the Nevada Museum of Art, a few hundred K-12 teachers from across Nevada gathered on a Saturday morning to contemplate STEAM—the idea that students’ understanding of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) can be complemented and strengthened by incorporating the arts. The 2026 NV STEAM Conference, cohosted by the Desert Research Institute (DRI), also included a Friday night open house at the DRI campus.

As part of the conference, the Native Resilience project led two sessions titled “Storytelling for Resilience: Bridging Indigenous Knowledge and Climate Science,” highlighting how our project uses storytelling to spread awareness about climate-related challenges and resilience in Indigenous communities.

Bringing Wildfire Science Into the 21st Century

By Paula Loop | Mar 19, 2026 | Featured projects, Paula Loop

The Harnessing the Data Revolution for Fire Science project is bringing researchers from DRI, UNR, and UNLV together to tackle dozens of questions about wildfires — from the impacts on air quality and hydrology to the way that plants and soils recover from burns. The project is treating wildfire as a continuum rather than as a single event, linking together the landscape and climate conditions that exist before the fire, the physical and chemical processes happening during the active burn, and the way the ecosystem responds and recovers.

A wide, murky river cutting through a lush green valley with colorful houses on the cliff sides.

DRI’s Monty Majumdar is Working with an International Team of Researchers to Create a Digital Twin of India’s Ganges River Basin

By Elyse DeFranco | Dec 4, 2025 | Featured projects, Elyse DeFranco

DRI’s Sayantan (Monty) Majumdar, Assistant Research Professor of Hydrologic Science and Remote Sensing, is joining forces with an international team of researchers to create a digital twin of the entire river basin that will support decision-makers as they work to protect this critical resource. Originally hailing from the river’s fertile lands, Majumdar is now based on DRI’s Reno campus, where he contributes to a wide range of research on water management issues in the Western U.S. As a no-cost Co-Principal Investigator (similar to a volunteer consultant role) on the project, he is excited to contribute the knowledge and models developed by teams like the OpenET project and apply them to India in order to expand their reach and test their efficacy in different climates.

Preparing Communities for the Future of Wildfire

By Elyse DeFranco | Oct 28, 2025 | Featured projects, Elyse DeFranco

Last year saw DRI’s inaugural global initiative aimed at advancing community resilience and adaptability in the face of rapid global change – AWE+, for an Adaptable World Environment. The event brought together hundreds of scientific experts, policymakers, resource managers, and other stakeholders to discuss ways to strengthen our communities against the growing threat of wildfires. To maintain momentum on the topic and continue building relationships that advance resilience, DRI’s 2025 AWE+ event sought to build on these conversations, again focusing on wildfire and bringing experts together from across the nation.

Researcher kneeling on ground holding a device into water to take a sample for analysis

DRI Launches Collaborative New Project Investigating PFAS and Microplastics for Department of Defense

By Elyse DeFranco | Aug 27, 2025 | Featured projects, Elyse DeFranco

DRI’s Monica Arienzo, Director of the Microplastics and Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, was recently awarded $250,000 by the Department of Defense to investigate laundering and textile degradation as a possible source of PFAS and microplastic pollution. The one-year grant will fund laboratory studies and analysis led by Arienzo, with DRI’s Daniel Saftner and Yeongkwon Son contributing to the work. Matt Reeves of Western Michigan University is partnering with the DRI scientists for the project.

Collage of US Maps showing the annual average temperature from 1900s through 2020s.

An Invisible Natural Disaster

By Elyse DeFranco | Aug 15, 2025 | Featured projects, Elyse DeFranco

Earth is hotter than it has been in 125,000 years, and DRI scientists are striving to uncover the impacts of a warmer atmosphere.

Native Waters on Arid Lands project featured in World Drought Atlas

By DRI Communications | Jun 10, 2025 | Featured projects, DRI Communications

DRI’s Native Waters on Arid Lands project was recently featured in the 2024 World Drought Atlas, a 175-page hardcover reference book for decision-makers detailing drought impacts and adaptation solutions from around the world.

View from the top of a mountain where a DRI truck is parked and researchers are working on a weather station and surrounded by pine trees.

Long Science in the Nevada Bristlecone Preserve

By Elyse DeFranco | May 12, 2025 | Featured projects, Elyse DeFranco

Ancient bristlecone pines have been collecting data for us for millennia. Anne Heggli’s research aims to provide a nearly microscopic look at how the climate in the Great Basin is changing, from hour to hour and season to season. With scientific monitoring equipment positioned from the floor of the Great Basin’s Spring Valley up to the peak of Mount Washington, her project examines temperature fluctuations, atmospheric information, and snowpack insights across the region’s ecosystems.

Sean McKenna speaking on a panel with two others with a microphone in front of him.

DRI Holds Water Panel at Nevada State Legislature

By Elyse DeFranco | Apr 23, 2025 | Featured projects, Elyse DeFranco

On March 27, DRI scientists gathered at the State Capitol to illuminate work that supports Nevada’s communities and landscape. With more than 600 scientists, engineers, students, and staff across our Reno and Las Vegas campuses, we conducted more than $52 million in sponsored research focused on improving peoples’ lives in 2024 alone.

A worker in yellow vest wanders the rubble left of a home after the Eaton fire.

What’s in the Burnt Remains of the LA Wildfires?

By Elyse DeFranco | Apr 21, 2025 | Featured projects, Elyse DeFranco

DRI scientists deployed to Los Angeles to collect ash, soil, and dust samples from burn zones in the hopes of illuminating the unique risks of wildland-urban fires. These urban fires presented a unique opportunity to understand how materials like plastics, metals, and even lithium batteries from electric cars can transform into environmental contaminants when they burn.