News & Announcements
Working to solve our most challenging environmental problems
DRI’s research calls on the expertise and methods of scientists from multiple scientific disciplines. More than 400 highly-skilled scientists, engineers, technicians, students, and staff work collaboratively within and across four research divisions, focused on understanding and answering critical science questions about global climate change, water quality and availability, air quality, the sustainability of desert lands, life in extreme environments, education, and more.
New luminescence rock dating technique to help answer archaeological questions in Lincoln County, Nevada
Above: In Coal Valley, located in Lincoln County, Nev., dry playas and ancient shorelines of ice-aged lakes hold clues to some of the Great Basin’s earliest inhabitants. DRI archaeologists are working to learn more about these ancient cultures through a new...
New study investigates link between clothes dryers and microplastic pollution in Lake Tahoe
Reno, Nev. & South Lake Tahoe, Cal. (July 20, 2020) - Last year, Desert Research Institute (DRI) and the League to Save Lake Tahoe detected microplastics in Lake Tahoe for the first time ever, many of which were microfibers. This discovery revealed that...
New USDA grant to support Diné (Navajo) and Hopi Teachers in Placed-Based STEM curriculum
Reno, Nev. (July 14, 2020) - Meghan Collins, M.S., Education Lead for the Native Waters on Arid Lands (NWAL) project and Assistant Research Scientist at the Desert Research Institute (DRI) in Reno has received a $100k grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s...
DRI’S WaterStart Program GOED Knowledge Fund Success Story
This story was reposted with permission from the Nevada Governor's Office of Economic Development. CARSON CITY, Nev. – After investments totaling $4.3 million through the Knowledge Fund administered by the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), the...
Camp Fire tragedy leads to new wildfire research
With a new $2 Million grant from the National Science Foundation, an interdisciplinary team of researchers including Adam Watts, Ph.D. of the Desert Research Institute (DRI) in Reno are initiating an effort to develop new tools for assessing and mitigating wildfire...
Tu Biomics, Agriculture Biotechnology Company Spins Out Of DRI
Carson City, Nev. – The Desert Research Institute (DRI) has successfully spun out its first research-based company focused on innovative solutions in agriculture with support from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) Knowledge Fund. Tu Biomics Inc.,...
New study reveals key information about the microbiome of an important anticancer compound-producing Antarctic marine invertebrate
New study reveals key information about the microbiome of an important anticancer compound-producing Antarctic marine invertebrateRENO, NEV. JUNE 25, 2020Microbiology Melanoma AscidiansCould the cure for melanoma – the most dangerous type of skin cancer – be a...
Dr. Sean A. McKenna appointed to lead Hydrologic Sciences at the Desert Research Institute
The Desert Research Institute (DRI) proudly announced today that Dr. Sean A. McKenna has been selected to lead the Institute’s Division of Hydrologic Sciences. Dr. McKenna comes to DRI from IBM Research in Dublin, Ireland, where he has spent the past seven years...
Eruption of Alaska’s Okmok volcano linked to mysterious period of extreme cold in ancient Rome
Reno, Nev. (June 22, 2020) – An international team of scientists and historians has found evidence connecting an unexplained period of extreme cold in ancient Rome with an unlikely source: a massive eruption of Alaska’s Okmok volcano, located on the opposite side of...
International Consortium of Scientists Propose New Naming System for Uncultivated Bacteria and Archaea
International Consortium of Scientists Propose New Naming System for Uncultivated Bacteria and ArchaeaRENO, NEV.JUNE 8, 2020MicrobiologyNomenclatureTaxonomyThe long-standing rules for assigning scientific names to bacteria and archaea are overdue for an update,...