Sunset over the mountains with a yucca plant in the foreground.

Support Science That Matters Now

By | Nov 13, 2025 | Donor Stories

Recently, in celebration of Nevada Day, DRI highlighted the work that our scientists do across this great state. And while our home has been in Nevada since our founding in 1959, our work has grown to touch nearly every corner of the globe. Whether it’s analyzing ice cores in the Alps, working with local communities to ensure access to clean water in Ghana, or supporting K-12 educators as they bring high-quality, hands-on STEM education to Nevada's classrooms, the projects our scientists undertake are tied together by a common goal – to help create a more sustainable and resilient environment for all people to live, grow, and prosper.

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Researcher in the lab wearing gloves and using equipment.

This Giving Season, Please Consider Supporting the IRP Endowment  

By | Dec 12, 2024 | Donor Stories

This giving season, please join us in supporting bright minds and their best ideas by donating to the IRP Endowment, which was established earlier this year to ensure that innovative science continues for generations to come. Your gift will bring us one step closer to our goal of raising $5 million to fully fund this endowment. To date, this program has supported more than 20 research teams and several successful research programs have grown out of IRP-supported preliminary research.

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Researcher studying a plant illuminated by the sun.

Donors Fund Endowment that Transforms Big Ideas into Groundbreaking Environmental Solutions and Offer a Dollar-for-Dollar Match up to $2 million

By | Aug 20, 2024 | Donor Stories, Uncategorized

Earlier this year, thanks to generous matching commitments from the Tom and Mary Gallagher Foundation and the Bretzlaff Foundation, DRI established the IRP Endowment, ensuring funding in perpetuity. To maximize the impact of the IRP Endowment, the Gallagher Foundation and Bretzlaff Foundation have made their commitments a dollar for dollar match up to $2 million with a goal of raising a $5 million endowment.

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Robert Lewis pointing at a screen in a DRI Lab.

Supporting a Lifelong Passion for Science

By | Oct 31, 2023 | Donor Stories

Philanthropy is a multigenerational Lewis family tradition. During his childhood, Robert Lewis wanted to be a scientist. He has supported DRI for almost 15 years and was part of an instrumental group of donors that provided philanthropic support to launch the Innovative Research Program (IRP) in 2018.

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