As populations in the southwestern United States continue to grow, the demand on water resources also increases. One region experiencing this stress on its groundwater resources is Pahrump Valley in southern Nye County, Nevada. Pahrump Valley is one of the fastest...
New DRI projects for 2020 include luminescence dating, fracking, and groundwater
Three new research projects sponsored by the Desert Research Institute in 2020 will explore new methods in luminescence dating, groundwater contamination around fracking operations, and the movement of groundwater through rocks and soils. DRI awards funding to several...
Donor-powered research solving critical environmental problems
DRI is a non-profit, which means that we rely on financial support from donors to make our projects possible. Thanks to individual contributions from community members, seed grants were awarded to eight teams of DRI researchers last year through the Innovation...
The WASH Capacity Building Program: An interview with Braimah Apambire, Ph.D.
Braimah Apambire, Ph.D., is the Director of the Center for International Water and Sustainability (CIWAS) at the Desert Research Institute (DRI), and an expert in international Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). He leads DRI’s WASH Capacity Building Program, which...
Dust Control at the Oceano Dunes
DRI researchers continue a long-term effort to help park officials understand and manage dust emissions from California’s Oceano Dunes.
Science of Place: DRI researchers and teachers develop localized science lessons for Native American classrooms
Climate change, in the abstract, can be a difficult phenomenon to comprehend – but on the ground, youth from Native American reservations in Arizona are already experiencing everyday impacts in the form of droughts and warming temperatures. To help Arizona teachers...
Evaluation of Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARGs) in the Urban Wetland Ecosystem: Las Vegas Wash
Photo: Duane Moser (left) and Xuelian Bai (right) collect filters from the sampling pump to take back to the lab for analysis. Research on antibiotic resistance genes at DRI Antibiotic resistance—the ability of bacteria to survive in the presence of antibiotics—is an...
Into the Plume: Advancing Fire Science Using Drone Technology
Photo: Drone pilots look toward their aircraft flying through the smoke. Credit: DRI's Dave Vuono. Fire science research using drone technology at DRI “It was sort of like a deep-sea exploration, with a submarine scanning the ocean floor,” said DRI research technician...
Problem Plastic: Investigating Microplastic Pollution in Nevada’s Waterways
The extent of microplastic pollution is only just beginning to be understood, with researchers discovering the tiny plastic pieces everywhere from the air we breathe to the deep ocean.
Preserving Nevada’s Lost City using drones
Ruins of adobe houses, Lost City of Nevada. Credit: Special Collections, University of Nevada, Reno Libraries. Nevada’s “Lost City,” located northeast of Las Vegas on a terrace above the Muddy River, has been lost twice before – first abandoned by the native people...