Howdy everyone, Casey the Green Box here! Sharing STEM education with Nevada’s teachers and families is a lot of work for one group. I’m happy to say that Science Alive works with other folks to deliver the good stuff. One of our great partners is Sierra Nevada Journeys, who teach NGSS-aligned lessons and host Family STEM Nights all across Nevada!
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, all of the educational outreach performed by Science Alive and Sierra Nevada Journeys is virtual – and it’s still awesome! Each Virtual Family Night is a 30-minute videoconference experience that guides families through hands-on STEM activities, all in the comfort and safety of their homes. These fun and educational events combine STEM learning and exciting challenges to bring families together doing science, and that’s a win for everyone!
Ah, the wonder of pre-pandemic Family STEM Nights!
If you’re interested in participating in a Virtual Family STEM Night, contact Alyssa Wagner at alyssaw@sierranevadajourneys.org, or head over toSierra Nevada Journeys’ website to check out all the great resources they offer. We here at Science Alive help with STEM Nights, and have a ton of other resources to share. If you want to know more about the educational resources we offer, take a gander at the Science Alive website. As always, thanks for supporting us, and we look forward to sharing knowledge with you – virtually!
Before the pandemic, Science Alive team members share the excitement of STEM kits with Boys & Girls Club employees in Reno, Nevada.
Mark Greenlaw, former VP of Education at FIRST, has started a multi-part article series on robotics education and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
This compelling series is kicked off with an article titled “Is It A Robot?”, detailing how we can define robots and why robotics and engineering are important subject areas in K-12 education. Greenlaw speaks of the major benefits of robotics education, highlighting the critical life skills students develop when working with robotics – critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, problem solving and teamwork. Stories of real-life, on the market robots and cool K-12 robotics lesson plans weave through the article, culminating in the call for robotics education to become a standard instead of an extracurricular.
In recent surveys we have sent to Nevada educators, our education community has expressed an overwhelming need for supplies to allow each students to engage in hands-on STEM and robotics activities in the face of social distancing and at-home learning. By creating this resource, we will ensure that Nevada students do not miss out on hands-on science this year.
Thanks to a generous donation from the Tom and Mary Gallagher Family Foundation , we are converting robotic activities into pandemic-adapted, hands-on engineering and design kits for students to use at home across the state. These Robotics To Go Kits contain activities appropriate for full distance, hybrid or in-person classroom models. Targeted at elementary and middle school students, we hope to provide impactful and fun robotics education during the pandemic. If you are interested in a Robotics To Go Kit, please email aj.long@dri.edu
This is fantastic news; thank you, Tom and Mary Gallagher Family Foundation!
Clery Notice: Positive Case of Coronavirus on DRI’s Reno Campus
On Wednesday, December 23, 2020, the Desert Research Institute was notified that a DRI employee at our Reno campus tested positive for the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Wednesday, December 23, 2020. The employee was last on DRI’s Reno campus on Friday, December 18, 2020. We are issuing this notice of communicable disease as an abundance of caution.
The health and well-being of our students and employees is something that is taken very seriously and is of the highest priority. We are issuing the following notice of communicable disease as an abundance of caution.
Date/Time of Incident: December 18, 2020
Location of Incident: DRI Reno Campus – REDD Building and briefly entered the Maxey and CRVB Buildings
Description of Incident: The employee accessed areas of DRI’s Reno campus, REDD Building and briefly entered the Maxey and CRVB Buildings, on December 18, 2020. DRI has notified anyone who may have had close contact with the employee on campus.
The Washoe County Health District encourages anyone with concerns to call the General Public Helpline at 775.328.2427. The number is live Monday – Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for COVID-19 questions.
We know this year has turned things upside down and now, more than ever, we need your feedback on how we can better serve the robotics community. As educators you are the experts in what it takes to have a successful robotics team, club and/or class. Take our survey to share feedback on our previous and current offerings, as well as your needs to help us tailor our future offerings.
Together, will test over 30,000 qualifying study participants by 2023 for risk of cirrhosis and liver-related illnesses
RENO, Nev. (Dec. 15, 2020) – Renown Institute for Health (IHI)announced today that the organization and Gilead Sciences, Inc. will be joining forces with Siemens Healthineers to offer the Enhanced Liver Fibrosis (ELF™) Test to people with risks for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) enrolled in the Healthy Nevada Project (HNP).
The ELF Test will help identify people most at risk for progressing to cirrhosis and liver-related outcomes and allow healthcare providers to intervene before irreparable damage occurs. This noninvasive blood test uses three serum biomarkers to create an ELF score from a predefined algorithm, which can be used by doctors to help evaluate if a patient requires increased medical care and monitoring for their condition.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which includes NASH, is prevalent in Nevada and under-diagnosed, likely affecting more than 500,000 adult Nevadans. If undetected and untreated, NASH can result in liver cirrhosis and may require liver transplantation or lead to death. There are more than 12,000 people on a waitlist for liver transplantation in the US and this number continues to rise due to the increasing prevalence of NAFLD.
“Thanks to important data collected through our Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Liver Disease Genome Atlas study, we now know that NASH is prevalent in the state of Nevada,” said Tony Slonim, M.D., DrPH, FACHE, president and CEO of Renown Health. “We are proud to expand our partnership with Gilead and begin working with Siemens Healthineers to improve health of those with liver disease and to take early detection one step further by offering Enhanced Liver Fibrosis, ELF testing for patients of Renown Health. This test provides our team of highly-skilled physicians an advanced, noninvasive method to actively assess dynamic liver fibrosis in study participants and intervene whenever necessary, contributing to a healthier Nevada.”
“Gilead believes that noninvasive tests, including the ELF Test, will help improve the experience of people living with NASH. These tests may help to diagnose liver disease, monitor disease progression and evaluate responses to treatment without the requirement for liver biopsy,” said Rob Myers, MD, Vice President, Liver Fibrosis Clinical Research at Gilead Sciences. “The ELF Test has proven itself to be a valuable tool in NASH management and we hope this partnership will further support its use in routine care.”
“We are very pleased that NASH patients in the Healthy Nevada Project ® now have access to the ELF Test which offers clinically useful prognostic information for their condition with the convenience of a simple blood test. Using our advanced laboratory expertise together with Renown IHI and Gilead, we can work toward better understanding of NASH and liver disease in a representative patient population,” said Sebastian Kronmueller, Head of Molecular Diagnostics at Siemens Healthineers.
“We launched the Healthy Nevada Project ® to help people understand more about their health, to identify serious health risks, and to give people access to innovations like ELF, so that they can live their best lives,” said Renown’s chief scientific officer, Dr. Joseph Grzymski, who is also a research professor at the Desert Research Institute and principal investigator of the Healthy Nevada Project ®. It’s incredibly rewarding to be able to report clinical findings to help our 50,000 volunteer study participants, and to assist healthcare providers in helping their patients.”
The provision of the ELF Test builds on a previously announced strategic collaboration between the Renown IHI and Gilead in July 2019. This ongoing partnership aims to collect and analyze de-identified genetic and electronic health data from 60,000 qualifying study participants to enhance the understanding of NAFLD and NASH and to potentially inform development of treatment options for these diseases.
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About NAFLD and NASH
NAFLD is a build-up of fat in the liver of people who do not have a history of alcohol misuse. It is normal for the liver to contain some fat, but if more than 5 percent of the liver content is fat, it’s considered a fatty liver (steatosis). NASH is the most severe form of NAFLD in which a person has liver cell damage and inflammation of the liver.Inflammation and liver cell damage can cause fibrosis, or scarring of the liver, and can cause decreased liver function (1).The symptoms of NASH are often silent or non-specific, making it difficult to diagnose.About one-third of people with NASH develop cirrhosis or irreversible liver damage (2).
About the ELF™ Test
The ELF Test is a noninvasive blood test that can quickly identify which patients are at an elevated risk for developing cirrhosis and other liver-related clinical events (LREs). In contrast to standard liver enzyme tests that reflect liver damage that has already occurred, the ELF Test combines the three serum direct biomarkers of active fibrosis.
The ELF Test algorithm measures each of these biomarkers to create an ELF score, which can be used as an aid to assess the risk for future disease progression. Doctors may use this ELF score to help evaluate if a patient requires increased medical care and monitoring for their condition. Individuals interested in determining their risk for NASH and its progression are encouraged to enroll in the Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Liver Disease Genome Atlas study. Those who have already consented and participated in the study will be contacted with more information on how to receive an ELF blood test. For more information or to enroll, please contact RenownIHI@renown.org or (775) 982-6914.
The Enhanced Liver Fibrosis (ELF™) Test kit is not available for sale in the U.S. Product availability may vary from country to country and is subject to varying regulatory requirements.
In the U.S., the ELF Testing Service is available from Siemens Healthcare Laboratory, LLC (SHL), a CLIA-certified laboratory located in Berkeley, Calif. The ELF Testing Service, including the establishment of performance characteristics, was developed by SHL. The ELF Test has not been cleared or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. SHL is regulated under CLIA as qualified to perform high complexity testing. The ELF Test is used for clinical purposes and should not be regarded as investigational use only or research use only.
About Renown Health
Renown Health is the region’s largest, locally owned and governed, not-for-profit integrated healthcare network serving Nevada, Lake Tahoe and northeast California. With a diverse workforce of more than 7,000 employees, Renown has fostered a longstanding culture of excellence, determination and innovation. The organization comprises a trauma center, two acute care hospitals, a children’s hospital, a rehabilitation hospital, a medical group and urgent care network, and the region’s largest, locally owned not-for-profit insurance company, Hometown Health. Renown’s institute model addresses social determinants of health and includes: Child Health, Behavioral Health & Addiction, Healthy Aging and Health Innovation. Clinical institutes include: Cancer, Heart and Vascular Health, Neurosciences and Robotic Surgery. Renown is currently enrolling participants in the world’s largest community-based genetic population health study, the Healthy Nevada Project®. For more information visit, renown.org.
About the Renown Institute for Health Innovation
Renown Institute for Health Innovation is a collaboration between Renown Health – a locally governed and locally owned, not-for-profit integrated healthcare network serving Nevada, Lake Tahoe and northeast California; and the Desert Research Institute – a recognized world leader in investigating the effects of natural and human-induced environmental change and advancing technologies aimed at assessing a changing planet. Renown IHI research teams are focused on integrating personal healthcare and environmental data with socioeconomic determinants to help Nevada address some of its most complex environmental health problems; while simultaneously expanding the state’s access to leading-edge clinical trials and fostering new connections with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
Renown Health is Nevada’s most comprehensive and integrated healthcare network and maintains electronic health records for 1.02 million registered patients. In 2016, Renown Health and the Desert Research Institute established the Healthy Nevada Project (HNP), the nation’s first community-based population health study. In 2017 HNP began a partnership with Helix to leverage its population health services, Exome+™ sequencing, and consumer engagement tools. The HNP is now an ongoing collaboration between Renown IHI, the Desert Research Institute, a global leader in environmental data and applied research, and Helix, a personal genomics company. HNP combines genetic, environmental, social and clinical data to address individual and community health needs with the goal of improving health across the state and the nation. The HNP currently has over 60,000 participants. For more information, visit healthynv.org.
About Gilead Sciences
Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a research-based biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes innovative medicines in areas of unmet medical need. The company strives to transform and simplify care for people with life-threatening illnesses around the world. Gilead has operations in more than 35 countries worldwide, with headquarters in Foster City, California. For more information on Gilead Sciences, please visit the company’s website at www.gilead.com.
About Siemens Healthineers
Siemens Healthineers AG (listed in Frankfurt, Germany: SHL) is shaping the future of Healthcare. As a leading medical technology company headquartered in Erlangen, Germany, Siemens Healthineers enables healthcare providers worldwide through its regional companies to increase value by empowering them on their journey towards expanding precision medicine, transforming care delivery, improving the patient experience, and digitalizing healthcare. Siemens Healthineers is continuously developing its product and service portfolio, with AI-supported applications and digital offerings that play an increasingly important role in the next generation of medical technology. These new applications will enhance the company’s foundation in in-vitro diagnostic, image-guided therapy, and in-vivo diagnostics. Siemens Healthineers also provides a range of services and solutions to enhance healthcare providers ability to provide high-quality, efficient care to patients. In fiscal 2020, which ended on September 30, 2020, Siemens Healthineers, which has approximately 54,000 employees worldwide, generated revenue of €14.5 billion and adjusted EBIT of €2.2 billion. Further information is available at www.siemens-healthineers.com.
An updated model from DRI scientists in Las Vegas provides a new understanding of water movement in dry soils
Several years ago, while studying the environmental impacts of large-scale solar farms in the Nevada desert, Desert Research Institute (DRI) scientists Yuan Luo, Ph.D. and Markus Berli, Ph.D. became interested in one particular question: how does the presence of thousands of solar panels impact desert hydrology?
This question led to more questions. “How do solar panels change the way water hits the ground when it rains?” they asked. “Where does the water go? How much of the rain water stays in the soil? How deep does it go into the soil?”
“To understand how solar panels impact desert hydrology, we basically needed a better understanding of how desert soils function hydraulically,” explained Luo, postdoctoral researcher with DRI’s Division of Hydrologic Sciences and lead author of a new studyin Vadose Zone Journal.
DRI scientists Yuan Luo (left) and Markus Berli (right) conducting research at DRI’s SEPHAS Lysimeter facility in Boulder City, Nev. November 2020.
Photograph by Ali Swallow/DRI.
The full text of the paper “Modeling near-surface water redistribution in a desert soil”, is available from Vadose Zone Journal: https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.20081.
In the study, Luo, Berli, and colleagues Teamrat Ghezzehei, Ph.D. of the University of California, Merced, and Zhongbo Yu, Ph.D. of the University of Hohai, China, make important improvements to our understanding of how water moves through and gets stored in dry soils by refining an existing computer model.
The model, called HYDRUS-1D, simulates how water redistributes in a sandy desert soil based on precipitation and evaporation data. A first version of the model was developed by a previous DRI graduate student named Jelle Dijkema, but was not working well under conditions where soil moisture levels near the soil surface were very low.
To refine and expand the usefulness of Dijkema’s model, Luo analyzed data from DRI’s SEPHAS Lysimeter facility, located in Boulder City, Nev. Here, large, underground, soil-filled steel tanks have been installed over truck scales to allow researchers to study natural water gains and losses in a soil column under controlled conditions.
Above: Yuan Luo and Markus Berli of DRI’s Division of Hydrologic Sciences used data from DRI’s SEPHAS Lysimeter facility (shown here) to refine an existing model called HYDRUS-1D, which simulates how water moves through dry soils.
Photographs by Ali Swallow/DRI.
Using data from the lysimeters, Luo explored the use of several hydraulic equations to refine Dijkema’s model. The end result, which is described in the new paper, was an improved understanding and model of how moisture moves through and is stored in the upper layers of dry desert soils.
“The first version of the model had some shortcomings,” Luo explained. “It wasn’t working well for very dry soils with volumetric water content lower than 10 percent. The SEPHAS lysimeters provided us with really good data to help understand the phenomenon of how water moves through dry soils as a result of rainfall and evaporation.”
In desert environments, understanding the movement of water through soils is helpful for a variety of practical uses, including soil restoration, erosion and dust management, and flood risk mitigation. For example, this model will be useful for desert restoration projects, where project managers need to know how much water will be available in the soil for plants after a desert rainstorm, Berli said. It is also a key piece of the puzzle needed to help answer their original question about how solar farms impact desert hydrology.
“The model is very technical, but all of this technical stuff is just a mathematical way to describe how rainwater moves in the soil once the water hits the soil,” Berli said. “In the bigger picture, this study was motivated by the very practical question of what happens to rainwater when falling on solar farms with thousands and thousands of solar panels in the desert – but to answer questions like that, sometimes you have to dig deep and answer more fundamental questions first.”
DRI scientist Yuan Luo standes near a weighing lysimeter at DRI’s SEPHAS Lysimeter facility in Boulder City, Nev. November 2020.
Photograph by Ali Swallow/DRI.
“In the bigger picture, this study was motivated by the very practical question of what happens to rainwater when falling on solar farms with thousands and thousands of solar panels in the desert – but to answer questions like that, sometimes you have to dig deep and answer more fundamental questions first.”
Additional Information:
This study was funded by the DRI Foundation Innovative Research Program, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Rose Shillito, Ph.D. (DRI/ACOE) and Nicole Damon (DRI) also contributed to the success of this project.
The full text of the paper “Modeling near-surface water redistribution in a desert soil”, is available from Vadose Zone Journal: https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.20081
The Desert Research Institute (DRI) is a recognized world leader in basic and applied interdisciplinary research. Committed to scientific excellence and integrity, DRI faculty, students, and staff have developed scientific knowledge and innovative technologies in research projects around the globe. Since 1959, DRI’s research has advanced scientific knowledge, supported Nevada’s diversifying economy, provided science-based educational opportunities, and informed policy makers, business leaders, and community members. With campuses in Reno and Las Vegas, DRI serves as the non-profit research arm of the Nevada System of Higher Education. For more information, please visit www.dri.edu.
DRI scientists Markus Berli and Yuan Luo. November 2020.
Clery Notice: Positive Case of Coronavirus on DRI’s Reno Campus
On Thursday, December 10, 2020, the Desert Research Institute was notified that a DRI employee at our Reno campus tested positive for the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Tuesday, December 8, 2020. The employee was last on DRI’s Reno campus on Sunday, November 15, 2020. We are issuing this notice of communicable disease as an abundance of caution.
The health and well-being of our students and employees is something that is taken very seriously and is of the highest priority. We are issuing the following notice of communicable disease as an abundance of caution.
Date/Time of Incident: December 8, 2020
Location of Incident: DRI Reno Campus – CRVB building
Description of Incident: The employee accessed areas of DRI’s Reno campus, CRVB building, on November 15, 2020. DRI has notified anyone who may have had close contact with the employee on campus.
The Washoe County Health District encourages anyone with concerns to call the General Public Helpline at 775.328.2427. The number is live Monday – Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for COVID-19 questions.
Clery Notice: Positive Case of Coronavirus on DRI’s Reno Campus
On Tuesday, December 8, 2020, the Desert Research Institute was notified that a DRI employee at our Reno campus tested positive for the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Friday, December 4, 2020. The employee was last on DRI’s Reno campus on Wednesday, November 18, 2020. We are issuing this notice of communicable disease as an abundance of caution.
The health and well-being of our students and employees is something that is taken very seriously and is of the highest priority. We are issuing the following notice of communicable disease as an abundance of caution.
Date/Time of Incident: December 4, 2020
Location of Incident: DRI Reno Campus – Northern Nevada Science Center (NNSC) building
Description of Incident: The employee accessed areas of DRI’s Reno campus, Northern Nevada Science Center (NNSC) building. DRI has notified anyone who may have had close contact with the employee on campus.
The Washoe County Health District encourages anyone with concerns to call the General Public Helpline at 775.328.2427. The number is live Monday – Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for COVID-19 questions.
Clery Notice: Positive Case of Coronavirus on DRI’s Las Vegas Campus
Today, Wednesday, December 2, 2020, a DRI employee at our Las Vegas campus tested positive for the Coronavirus (COVID-19). The employee was last on DRI’s Las Vegas campus on Friday, November 6, 2020. We are issuing this notice of communicable disease as an abundance of caution.
The health and well-being of our students and employees is something that is taken very seriously and is of the highest priority. We are issuing the following notice of communicable disease as an abundance of caution.
Date/Time of Incident: December 2, 2020
Location of Incident: DRI Las Vegas Campus – Southern Nevada Science Center Phase 1 Building
Description of Incident: The employee accessed areas of DRI’s Las Vegas campus, Southern Nevada Science Center Phase 1 Building. DRI has notified anyone who may have had close contact with the employee on campus.
The Southern Nevada Health District encourages anyone with concerns to call the General Public Helpline at (702) 759-INFO (4636). The number is live Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for COVID-19 questions.
All of us at Nevada Robotics want to thank TrainerRoad for donating to fund our ongoing robotics outreach. Thanks to the generosity of TrainerRoad, a Washoe County school will have access to high-quality robotics kits and education.
This is fantastic news; thank you, TrainerRoad!
Update (2/16/21):
On Friday, February 12th, a classroom set of FIRST First Lego League robots were delivered to Traner Middle School in Reno, NV. This was only made possible by the generous support from TrainerRoad! The classroom set of robots will be used to start a new robotics program at the school, encouraging and inspiring students in the field of robotics and engineering.
AJ Long from Nevada Robotics poses with robotics educators at Traner Middle School during the drop off of the donated classroom set of FIRST robots.
Everyone at Nevada Robotics would like to thank Nevada Gold Mines for the sponsorship and support of our ongoing programs. In February, 2020 Nevada Gold Mines granted our program $100,000 to support robotics education for Nevada’s elementary school teachers. Thanks to Nevada Gold Mines, more students and teachers across Nevada will enjoy robotics education opportunities over the coming years.
To one of our founding sponsors; thank you, Nevada Gold Mines!
We at Nevada Robotics would like to extend a huge thank you to Tesla, Inc., for serving as our first and ongoing founding partner. With over $300,000 invested to date, Nevada Robotics and the Robotics Academy of Nevada are here because of Tesla’s investment with DRI in 2018. Thanks to the generosity of Tesla, robotics education opportunities are accessible by a growing number of Nevada students!
For all you do to enrich robotics education in our state; thank you, Tesla!
Nevada Robotics team member Chelsea talked with robotics coach Ben Nguyen about the unique opportunities provided by robotics education, the challenges brought by COVID-19, and the exciting future of robotics. The video below is a preview of their discussion, and if you’d like to hear more of Ben’s thoughts and firsthand experiences as a robotics coach, check out the full 30-minute interview!
Climate change and “atmospheric thirst” to increase fire danger and drought in Nevada and California
RENO, NEV. NOV 19, 2020
Climate Change Wildfire Drought
New study shows impacts of increased levels of evaporative demand as climate grows warmer and drier
Climate change and a “thirsty atmosphere” will bring more extreme wildfire danger and multi-year droughts to Nevada and California by the end of this century, according to new research from the Desert Research Institute (DRI), the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, and the University of California, Merced.
In a new study published in Earth’s Future, scientists looked at future projections of evaporative demand – a measure of how dry the air is – in California and Nevada through the end of the 21st century. They then examined how changes in evaporative demand would impact the frequency of extreme fire danger and three-year droughts, based on metrics from the Evaporative Demand Drought Index (EDDI) and the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI).
According to their results, climate change projections show consistent future increases in atmospheric evaporative demand (or the “atmospheric thirst”) over California and Nevada. These changes were largely driven by warmer temperatures, and would likely lead to significant on-the-ground environmental impacts.
Study results show increases of 13 to 18 percent in evaporative demand during all four seasons by the end of the century.
Credit: Dan McEvoy/DRI.
“Higher evaporative demand during summer and autumn—peak fire season in the region—means faster drying of soil moisture and vegetation, and available fuels becoming more flammable, leading to fires that can burn faster and hotter,” explained lead author Dan McEvoy, Ph.D., Assistant Research Professor of Climatology at DRI.
“Increased evaporative demand with warming enables fuels to be drier for longer periods,” added coauthor John Abatzoglou, Ph.D., Associate Professor with the University of California, Merced. “This is a recipe for more active fire seasons.”
The research team found that days with extreme fire danger in summer and autumn are expected to increase four to 10 times by the end of the century. Their results also showed that multi-year droughts, similar to that experienced in California and Nevada during 2012-2016, were projected to increase three to 15 times by the end of the century.
“One major takeaway was that we can expect to see a lot more days in the summer and autumn with extreme fire danger related to increased temperature and evaporative demand,” McEvoy said. “Another takeaway was that even in locations where precipitation may not change that much in future, droughts are going to become more severe due to higher evaporative demand.”
California and Nevada on average experienced a record-setting number of “extreme fire danger” days in 2020, as indicated by the line on the graph above. Extreme fire danger days were calculated using the Evaporative Demand Drought Index (EDDI), with methods described in McEvoy et al. (2020). Data source: http://www.climatologylab.org/gridmet.html.
Credit: Dan McEvoy/DRI.
Study authors say that the cumulative effects of increases in evaporative demand will stress native ecosystems, increase fire danger, negatively impact agriculture where water demands cannot be met, and exacerbate impacts to society during periods of prolonged dryness. Several members of the research team are part of the California-Nevada Applications Program (CNAP), and will use these study results to provide resource managers with a view of possible future scenarios.
“These results provide information to support science-based, long-term planning for fire management agencies, forest management agencies, and water resource managers,” said coauthor Julie Kalansky, Ph.D., Program Manager for CNAP. “We plan to work with partners to help integrate the findings from this paper to support building climate resilience.”
Additional Information:
This study was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) California-Nevada Climate Applications Program (CNAP) and the NOAA National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) California-Nevada Drought Early Warning System.
The full text of the paper, “Projected Changes in Reference Evapotranspiration in California and Nevada: Implications for Drought and Wildland Fire Danger,” is available from Earth’s Future: https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EF001736.
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The Desert Research Institute (DRI) is a recognized world leader in basic and applied interdisciplinary research. Committed to scientific excellence and integrity, DRI faculty, students, and staff have developed scientific knowledge and innovative technologies in research projects around the globe. Since 1959, DRI’s research has advanced scientific knowledge, supported Nevada’s diversifying economy, provided science-based educational opportunities, and informed policy makers, business leaders, and community members. With campuses in Reno and Las Vegas, DRI serves as the non-profit research arm of the Nevada System of Higher Education. For more information, please visit www.dri.edu.
Sign up for the FIRST Nevada monthly newsletter! Keep up-to-date on all things FIRST robotics- competitions, coach trainings, workshops, scholarships and more! Suscribe to the newsletter at www.firstnevada.org !
Howdy folks! Here at Science Alive we believe that learning is for everyone, and we like to think that learning can be fun for all. That’s why we have a super fun mascot. Wait, have you not met our mascot? Well, we hope you like smiling, because our mascot is ready to meet you. Meet Casey the Green Box! Are you smiling yet? Casey is the face of Science Alive, and what a joyful face they have! We asked Casey why they’re grinning so big, and Kasey had this to say: “Today I rollerbladed to work (with a helmet on, of course) and I saw so many birds on the way here. Any day in which I get to observe nature and move around is a great day!” We heard it directly from the source: Casey loves science and the outdoors. When Casey’s not wearing rollerblades (the secret: they’re always ready to roll), they help the Science Alive team make fun STEM-based resources for folks all around Nevada. From Green Boxes to STEM Kits and beyond, Casey knows the sciences inside and out – and they’re still learning every day! “I may be the original Green Box, but even I can’t fit all the STEM knowledge in my head,” said Casey when asked about STEM-based lessons. “It’s my hope that students and teachers all across Nevada use our free resources to help us bring science education to life.” That’s why Casey is Science Alive’s mascot – they believe wholeheartedly in our mission, and they want to share STEM resources with as many educators and students as possible. If you’re interested in all the awesome educational resources Casey has worked on with the Science Alive team, please visit our website at https://www-dev.dri.edu/science-alive/. When asked what they would do after the workday is over, Casey said this: “I’m going to cook a nice dinner, listen to some classical music, and read about Nikola Tesla.” This humble writer, for one, is green with envy – Casey the Green Box lives a life that’s rich and full! Let’s all try to be like Casey.
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 luminescence dating technique. Credit: DRI.
Reno, Nev. (Nov 16, 2020) – In Lincoln County, Nev., dry playas and ancient shorelines of ice-aged lakes hold clues to some of the Great Basin’s earliest inhabitants – but assigning precise dates to archaeological artifacts and features buried within the region’s shifting sands and silts has long proved challenging.
Now, with new funding from the Lincoln County Archaeological Initiative managed by the Bureau of Land Management, a group of scientists led by Christina Neudorf, Ph.D. and Teresa Wriston, Ph.D. of the Desert Research Institute (DRI) in Reno will improve our knowledge of Lincoln County’s rich archaeological history by developing and refining a new technique in luminescence dating.
Luminescence dating, which uses light emitted by minerals to date events in the past, is a technique most commonly applied to silt or sand samples. In this project, the research team will apply new methods in luminescence dating to analyze the burial ages of larger rock samples.
“Trying to develop a technique to date the burial ages of rocks will help us better understand the lake levels of the past and when people would have used or settled along these beaches,” said Neudorf, Assistant Research Professor of Geology and manager of DRI’s Luminescence Laboratory. “We think this will be more accurate than dating sand, which often gets reworked and redeposited over time.”
The project involves several phases. Researchers will first conduct fieldwork in Coal Valley, located within the Basin and Range National Monument, to gather rock samples from pre-approved areas close to known archaeological sites. They will then process the samples at the DRI Luminescence Laboratory in Reno by extracting and dating quartz and feldspar from the rock. Finally, the team will analyze their data and produce a technical report detailing enhanced knowledge of lake history and archaeology for the use of future archaeological surveys in Lincoln County. They will also produce a series of videos that summarize the work.
The ability to date rock surfaces using luminescence dating is an exciting advance that will help archaeologists more quickly identify appropriate areas of the landscape for study, Wriston said. Eventually, she hopes to be able to use this technique to date rock art by identifying when the rock surface was covered with paint, or to date when particular artifacts that have been buried were last used or exposed to light.
“This technique will really revolutionize Paleoamerican archaeological studies in the west,” Wriston said. “We know that people used these shorelines; that’s what attracted the earliest people to the Great Basin. This luminescence dating technique will help us build on results of previous work in the Coal Valley area of Lincoln County and give us a more complete picture of the ancient lake history and people’s place in it.”
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The Desert Research Institute (DRI) is a recognized world leader in basic and applied interdisciplinary research. Committed to scientific excellence and integrity, DRI faculty, students, and staff have developed scientific knowledge and innovative technologies in research projects around the globe. Since 1959, DRI’s research has advanced scientific knowledge, supported Nevada’s diversifying economy, provided science-based educational opportunities, and informed policy makers, business leaders, and community members. With campuses in Reno and Las Vegas, DRI serves as the non-profit research arm of the Nevada System of Higher Education. For more information, please visit www.dri.edu.
Researchers debriefed global participants on microplastics in the environment, a new online snow tracker tool for water resource management, and the role of dogs in body recovery.
Link to Event Video Presentation Available at – https://www-dev.dri.edu/conversations-with-dri-innovators/.
Las Vegas, Nev. (Friday, Nov. 13, 2020) – Nevada-based scientists from the Desert Research Institute (DRI) shared their most recent findings and potential solutions to environmental and climate change questions with a global audience this week during the first “Conversations with DRI Innovators” virtual event.
Tuesday’s 60-minute presentation featured research on microplastics in Lake Tahoe and the Las Vegas wash using a state-of-the-art instrument, a look at how dogs can help recover drowned victims in the deep waters of Lake Tahoe, and also as criminal trial evidence, the development of a real-time snow tracker online tool, and the chemistry of snowfall in the Sierras for water resource management and public safety.
“These findings have far-reaching impact beyond Nevada and our country as the work of DRI researchers can be found around the world,” said Tina Quigley, DRI Foundation Chair. “While this research was centered throughout Nevada, DRI scientists are working on finding real-life solutions to these real-world questions that will benefit all of us, our families, our earth.”
The DRI Foundation’s Innovation Research Program (IRP) awarded seed grants to kick-start the highlighted research and talented scientists. This early support has been leveraged into other awards such as from the National Science Foundation and National Weather Service to continue expanding their developing research.
“This is donor-driven research funding at its best, and I am proud to be part of the group cheering on some of the greatest minds of the scientific community from right here in Nevada,” added Quigley.
A video recording of the fast-paced, hour-long presentation from IRP grant recipients and DRI faculty along with additional information may be found online at – https://www-dev.dri.edu/conversations-with-dri-innovators/.
The four speakers and the topics covered, in order of presentation along with approximate start times for each, are as follows:
:04 – DRI, IRP overview, and speaker introductions. – Tina Quigley, Moderator, Former CEO of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Each presentation runs approximately 10 minutes.
7:33 – Types of microplastics found at Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas Wash and how an easy to install mesh currently being tested on clothes dryer vents may be part of the solution. – Dr. Monica Arienzo, Assistant Research Professor, DRI Division of Hydrologic Sciences and National Science Foundation Grant Recipient.
22:11 – A new online tool just developed will help track snow droughts in a warmer climate in order to help understand the need for changing water resource management strategies. – Dr. Daniel McEvoy, Assistant Research Professor of Climatology, DRI Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Researcher with the Western Regional Climate Center and National Weather Service Grant Recipient.
34:23 – Using the chemistry of atmospheric river snowfall to improve water resource management in the Western U.S. – Dr. Nathan Chellman, Postdoctoral Fellow, DRI Division of Hydrologic Sciences.
46:59 – Advancing the science of canine odor detection – from criminal trials to accidental drownings and how dogs and plants may help detect cadavers. – Dr. Mary E. Cablk, Associate Research Professor of Biology, DRI Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno Adjunct Professor in Forensic Anthropology and Auxiliary Deputy with several county Sheriff Offices in the State of Nevada.
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About the DRI Foundation Innovation Research Program (IRP): The DRI Foundation’s IRP provides the start-up funding DRI scientists need to test new ideas and produce initial data, which will help them build the scientific case for future research projects. The 2020 Innovation Research Project winners were selected through a competitive selection process. The selected projects demonstrate creative, innovative research or technological development that advances DRI’s mission. For more information on this and other upcoming events please visit: https://www-dev.dri.edu/support-dri/dri-foundation/
About the Desert Research Institute (DRI): The DRI is a recognized world leader in basic and applied interdisciplinary research. Committed to scientific excellence and integrity, DRI faculty, students, and staff have developed scientific knowledge and innovative technologies in research projects around the globe. Since 1959, DRI’s research has advanced scientific knowledge, supported Nevada’s diversifying economy, provided science-based educational opportunities, and informed policy makers, business leaders, and community members. With campuses in Reno and Las Vegas, DRI serves as the non-profit research arm of the Nevada System of Higher Education. For more information, please visit www.dri.edu.
Media Contact
Justin Broglio
Communications Manager, Desert Research Institute
775-762-8320
Justin.Broglio@www-dev.dri.edu
FIRST Nevada announces the new OhBot Programming Challenge for FRC, FTC and FLL students! The programming challenge can be completed by any FIRST Nevada team member (student) and must be submitted by midnight PST on January 18, 2020. Winners will be chosen by a panel of judges from across the world and will receive special prizes! The top winner will receive gaming headphones by Turtle Beach.
Who: Any FIRST Nevada team member can create and submit an OhBot program. Be sure to include your name and to document your code so that judges will know what is going on.
What: FIRST Nevada challenges students to write a program in OhBot, version 2.1, that can be used in Outreach and/or Demonstration events. Judges will be looking out for creativity, clarity of code and how well your program would work in an Outreach/Demonstration setting.
When: Email your program’s final version by January 18th, 2020 to L.Halvorson@firstnevada.org. Make sure to use email receipts.
Caption: Pictographs from a site at Fort Hunter Liggett, processed with D-stretch imagery. DRI Archaeologists will soon travel to Fort Hunter Liggett, in California, to document rock art in high resolution. Credit: Fort Hunter Liggett.
Las Vegas, Nev. (Nov. 10, 2020) – Long ago, before widespread European-American settlement, ancestors of the Salinan Tribe left rock art featuring colorful handprints and abstract symbols at various sites located along narrow valleys and rugged hills in southern Monterey County, Calif. This month, a group of Desert Research Institute (DRI) archaeologists will document several of these sites using high resolution photography, in partnership with the U.S. Army’s Fort Hunter Liggett Cultural Resources Management Program.
The project, which is co-led by DRI’s Greg Haynes, Ph.D. and Dave Page, M.A., with technical support from staff at Fort Hunter Liggett, will provide updated photographic documentation and a rock art management plan for pictographs (images painted on rock) and petroglyphs (images carved into rock) at eight different sites located on the grounds of Fort Hunter Liggett. One site, called La Cueva Pintada, or the Painted Cave, is estimated to have hundreds of pictographs and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“Many of the pictographs are handprints, but kind of unusual – they look like they were made by people swiping their fingers across the rock face,” Haynes said. “There are also various abstract symbols. They’re multicolored – red, white, black, yellow, and possibly blue or green – so part of our work will be to determine what pigments were used and to advise the Army on how to best preserve them.”
The DRI project team includes Megan Stueve, M.A., who will provide expertise in rock art recording and in the photographic documentation of pictographs using D-stretch imagery, a computer program that helps bring out colors that can’t be seen with the naked eye.
“D-stretch, short for decorrelation stretching, is a type of image processing that essentially stretches or exaggerates the colors to make them easier to see,” Stueve explained. “Images that you can already see become very visible and that those are faint hopefully become more visible.”
DRI Archaeologists will use D-Stretch imagery to document rock art at Fort Hunter Liggett in high resolution. The photographs on the left, showing pictographs from a site at Fort Hunter Liggett, have not been altered; The photographs on the right, processed with D-stretch imagery, show the pictographs in greater detail. Credit: Fort Hunter Liggett.
In addition to petroglyphs and pictographs, the Salinan people of this region left behind an abundance of bedrock mortars, circular depressions in rock outcrops that were likely used for grinding food items such as acorns, but may also have been used to grind the pigment to make the pictographs. The extensive use of the area might indicate it was used as a habitation locale or meeting area, or possibly for ceremonial purposes, Stueve said.
Although all of the sites that the DRI team will visit have been documented previously, some site records have not been updated in more than 30 years. As part of this project, they will provide Fort Hunter Liggett with up-to-date site records and photographs, and also make recommendations for future study and preservation of these pictographs and petroglyphs.
“The Army wants a management plan for the preservation of these historical resources,” Haynes said. “In addition to these pictographs, there are a few other important historic sites nearby. There’s a mission called Mission San Antonio de Padua that was founded in 1771 by Father Junipero Serra, and a hacienda that was built for William Randolph Hearst. It’s an important area with an interesting history.”
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The Desert Research Institute (DRI) is a recognized world leader in basic and applied interdisciplinary research. Committed to scientific excellence and integrity, DRI faculty, students, and staff have developed scientific knowledge and innovative technologies in research projects around the globe. Since 1959, DRI’s research has advanced scientific knowledge, supported Nevada’s diversifying economy, provided science-based educational opportunities, and informed policy makers, business leaders, and community members. With campuses in Reno and Las Vegas, DRI serves as the non-profit research arm of the Nevada System of Higher Education. For more information, please visit www.dri.edu.
Scientists compare health impacts of smoke from wildfires versus prescribed burns.
Reno, Nev.
October 26, 2020
Plumes Human health Wildfire smoke
Featured research by DRI’s Andrey Khlystov, Dante Staten, Jim Metcalf, Adam Watts, Vera Samburova, Siying Lu, and Hans Moosmuller.
When the air over Reno and other western communities turns hazy-brown with wildfire smoke, many can’t help but wonder – what is in the smoke, and can it make us sick? Desert Research Institute (DRI) scientists Andrey Khlystov, Ph.D., Dante Staten, M.S., and a team of colleagues from DRI and the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) are currently working to find out, as part of a five-year project funded by the National Institutes of Health.
The project, which began in 2019, will compare the impacts on human health of two different types of fire smoke – smoke from wildfires versus that from prescribed burns. Although each can generate large plumes of smoke, wildfires often burn hotter and their plumes may include chemicals released by burning houses or other structures.
“Prescribed fires do still generate smoke, but they are usually lower intensity fires, so they generate different amounts of pollutants and different kinds of particles to some extent,” Khlystov said. “So, our study is asking, what is the relative benefit to health of managing land with prescribed fires? Or, is prescribed fire and wildfire smoke about the same?”
DRI scientists Dante Staten (left) and Andrey Khlystov (right) collect air quality data from sensors located on the roof of the Desert Research Institute in Reno. October 19, 2020.
Credit: DRI.
In 2019, Khlystov, Staten and their colleagues began collecting and analyzing air samples at Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) monitoring sites in Reno and Sparks, as well as on the DRI rooftop. They have continued to collect air quality samples during summer and fall of 2020.
“Last year our air was pretty clean – unlucky for the project, but lucky for everyone else,” Khlystov said. “But this year, from about mid-August to mid-September, we had almost non-stop smoky days.”
Staten, a graduate research assistant and Ph.D. student with UNR’s environmental science program, has been heavily involved in sample collection during his time at DRI. With more than 150 air quality samples now in hand, he is beginning to process and analyze them in DRI’s Organic Analytical Lab.
Above: Using air quality monitoring equipment located at sites in Reno and Sparks, DRI researchers have collected more than 150 air quality samples during the 2020 season. The photos above were taken from the DRI rooftop in 2019 and 2020.
Credit: DRI.
Next, Khlystov and his team plan to conduct laboratory experiments in DRI’s combustion chamber in order to learn more about the specific air quality impacts of burning different fuel types collected from around Reno and other parts of the Sierra Nevada and California, and to learn about how the chemical composition of smoke changes over time. They will use this data and information to create a model of the pollutants present in smoke plumes. Working in collaboration with epidemiologist Matt Strickland, Ph.D., of UNR, the researchers will then compare information from the air quality model with a database of health records provided by Renown Health. This will allow the team to investigate impacts of smoke on human health in terms of number of hospital visits that occurred during wildfire or prescribed fire smoke events. “Renown has millions of health records, all anonymized so that there are no privacy issues, but we can use them to see how many people have health complaints after an episode of wildfire or prescribed fire smoke,” Khlystov explained. “This will allow epidemiologists to figure out how bad an impact was – for example, if we have an increase in smoke particle concentration by a factor of two, does that mean 100 more people coming to the hospital, or 1,000, or 10,000?”
Researchers Dante Staten (left) and Andrey Khlystov (right) analyze air quality samples in DRI’s Organic Analytical Laboratory. October 19, 2020.
Credit: DRI.
As climate change continues to alter natural fire regimes, Khlystov, Staten and their colleagues hope that their study findings will provide needed information to help everyone from land managers to the medical community and individual citizens better manage risk during the fire season.
“The incidence of wildfires here in the west and around the world is increasing, it’s very difficult not to notice,” Khlystov said. “People know that the particles are not good for you and are causing all sorts of health effects, but there are still a lot of unknowns.”
During August and September of 2020, smoke drifted into Nevada from numerous California wildfires. This satellite image shows extremely smoky conditions onSeptember 14, 2020.
The EnergySmart PSA Contest is open for submissions! Deadline extended to December 11th, 2020!
Over the past few years Science Alive has held a yearly Public Service Announcment (PSA) contest for middle school aged students (6th-8th) in Nevada about energy use and conservation. This year’s contest opens October 19th and runs until December 11th, 2020. Past submissions have included music videos, dramatic re-tellings and even illustrated cartoons. You can watch the winning PSA videos from 2019 on the Science Alive YouTube. Winning students and the teachers with the most student submissions will earn prizes for their efforts. We are so excited to see a new group of students demonstrate their creativity, acting abilities and energy conservation knowledge!
PSA Eligibility and Guidelines:
– You must be a Nevada student that attends a school within a Southwest Gas service area – Check Eligibility Here!
– You must be in middle school (grades 6th – 8th)
– You may work alone or in a group of up to 4 members
– Your PSA video cannot be longer than 2 minutes and must be uploaded and submitted to our Google Form by November 30th
– You must complete and submit a talent release form signed by your parent or guardian
Clery Notice: Positive Case of Coronavirus on DRI’s Las Vegas Campus
Today, Wednesday, October 14, 2020, a DRI employee at our Las Vegas campus tested positive for the Coronavirus (COVID-19). The employee was last on DRI’s Las Vegas campus on Monday, Oct. 12, 2020. We are issuing this notice of communicable disease as an abundance of caution.
The health and well-being of our students and employees is something that is taken very seriously and is of the highest priority. We are issuing the following notice of communicable disease as an abundance of caution.
Date/Time of Incident: October 14, 2020
Location of Incident: DRI Las Vegas Campus
Description of Incident: The employee accessed areas of DRI’s Las Vegas campus. DRI has notified anyone who may have had close contact with the employee on campus.
The Southern Nevada Health District encourages anyone with concerns to call the General Public Helpline at (702) 759-INFO (4636). The number is live Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for COVID-19 questions.
Each year, the Desert Research Institute (DRI) welcomes new graduate students from the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) and University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), who work under the direction of DRI faculty on our northern and southern campuses to conduct research across a variety of scientific fields as they pursue their master’s and doctoral degrees. Read below to get to know our new grad students!
Natasha Sushenko
Natasha Sushenko
Las Vegas Campus
Natasha Sushenko is originally from Las Vegas, Nevada, and is currently pursuing a M.S. in microbiology at UNLV. At DRI, she is working in the Environmental Microbiology Lab with faculty advisor Duane Moser, Ph.D.
“I’m currently working on a NASA EPSCoR Space Biology project that involves studying strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae, an opportunistic pathogen, that have been isolated from the International Space Station (ISS),” Sushenko said. “We are growing these strains under simulated microgravity while exposed to the disinfectants used on the ISS, and will later perform metatranscriptomic analysis to evaluate the strains for antimicrobial resistance and virulence gene expression.”
Victoria Wuest
Victoria Wuest Las Vegas Campus
Victoria Wuest is originally from Las Vegas, Nevada, and is pursuing a M.S. in biological sciences with a concentration in ecology and evolutionary biology at UNLV. At DRI, she is working in the Environmental Microbiology Labunder the direction of Duane Moser, Ph.D..
“I am working on a project to extract human mtDNA from ancient quids found in Mule Springs Rockshelter in Nevada,” Wuest said. “I am also studying the application and implementation of eDNA of endangered and invasive fish in the warm water springs of Nevada.”
Manuel de Cespedes Molina
Manuelde Cespedes Molina Las Vegas Campus
Manuel de Cespedes Molina is originally from Camaguey, Cuba. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Anthropology at UNLV. At DRI, he is working in the Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences under the supervision of Maureen King, M.A.
“My work at DRI is involved with the Cultural Resource Management Program that supports the National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office’s historic preservation obligations at the Nevada National Security Site,” de Cespedes Molina said.
Marc Berghouse
Marc Berghouse Reno campus
Marc Berghouse is originally from Redwood City, Calif., and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Hydrology at UNR. At DRI, he is working in the Division of Hydrologic Sciences under the direction of Dr. Rishi Parashar.
“I will be working on modeling the physics of microbial motility – the ability of a microbe to move through its environment – at the micro and field scales,” Berghouse said.
Anne Heggli
Anne Heggli Reno campus
Anne Heggli is originally from Cool, Calif., and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science at UNR. At DRI, she is working under the direction of advisor Ben Hatchett, Ph.D. in the Division of Atmospheric Sciences.
“I am working on the development of a Snow Runoff Readiness Advisory to provide information regarding the likelihood and magnitude of impactful snowmelt-derived runoff and flooding during extreme weather events,” Heggli said.
Porraket Dechdacho
Porraket (Porra) Dechdacho Reno campus
Porra Dechdado is originally from Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand. She is currently pursuing a M.S. in hydrogeology at UNR. At DRI, she is working with Dr. Rishi Parashar in the Division of Hydrologic Sciences.
“I am working on a project to develop and evaluate iron-based strategies for arsenic removal from contaminated groundwater using metal organic framework and iron rich compost,” Dechdado explained.
Reno, Nev. (Oct 7, 2020) – Xiaoliang Wang, Ph.D. of the Desert Research Institute (DRI) in Reno, Nev. is the winner of this year’s Benjamin Y. H. Liu Award from the American Association of Aerosol Research (AAAR). He was recognized for this honor today at a virtual ceremony during the AAAR’s Annual Conference.
Wang, a research professor with DRI’s Division of Atmospheric Science, studies aerosols – tiny solid particles or droplets that are suspended in the air. His research interests include physical and chemical characterization of aerosols, pollution source characterization, air quality measurement, and aerosol instrument development. He is being honored with this award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to aerosol instrumentation and experimental techniques that have significantly advanced the science and technology of aerosols.
Wang is the co-inventor of the nanoparticle aerodynamic lenses and the DustTrak DRX aerosol monitor, an instrument named after him. He developed the new the data inversion algorithms for the TSI Engine Exhaust Particle Sizer Spectrometer (EEPS) for compact shape and soot particles. He led the development of the Aerodynamic Lens Calculator, the DRI portable emissions measurement system, and the DRI Model 2015 multi-wavelength thermal/optical carbon analyzer.
Wang holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Minnesota, and B.E. degrees in thermal engineering and environmental engineering from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. He has been a member of the DRI community since 2009.
The award honors Professor Benjamin Liu for his leadership in the aerosol community and his own seminal contributions to aerosol science through instrumentation and experimental research. Professor Liu is a founding father of the AAAR and of the society’s journal, Aerosol Science and Technology, and helped establish the International Aerosol Research Assembly. He received the Fuchs Memorial Award in 1994 and retired as Regents’ Professor from the University of Minnesota in 2002, where he also served as the director of the Particle Technology Laboratory from 1973 to 1997.
DRI Research Professor Xiaoliang Wang received the 2020 Benjamin Y. H. Liu Award in a virtual ceremony during the American Association of Aerosol Research’s Annual Conference on October 7, 2020.
Anne Barkley of University of Miami to be honored in a virtual ceremony on Oct. 27, 2020
Reno, Nev. (October 1, 2020) – The Desert Research Institute (DRI) is pleased to announce that the 22nd Annual Peter B. Wagner Memorial Award for Women in Atmospheric Sciences has been awarded to Anne E. Barkley from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (RSMAS) at the University of Miami in Florida.
This competitive national award, conferred annually by DRI since 1998, recognizes a woman pursuing a graduate education in the atmospheric sciences who has published an outstanding academic paper and includes a $1,500 prize. The Wagner Award is the only such honor for graduate women in the atmospheric sciences in the United States.
“Barkley was selected from a very strong pool of applicants from excellent colleges and universities around the U.S.,” said Vera Samburova, Ph.D., Chair of the Wagner Award Selection Committee and Associate Research Professor in DRI’s Division of Atmospheric Sciences. “We are very pleased to honor her for her outstanding work in atmospheric science.”
Barkley will present her paper at an online award ceremony on Tuesday Oct. 27, at 12 p.m. PST. This event will celebrate DRI’s long-term commitment to recognizing achievements of women in the sciences and will provide opportunities for the public to meet and engage with outstanding scientists.
Runners up for this year’s award included: Therese Carter (2nd place) from the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “How emissions uncertainty influences the distribution and radiative impacts of smoke from fires in North America,” ACP 2020; Allison C. Vander Wall (3rd place) from the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Irvine, “Evidence for a kinetically controlled burying mechanism for growth of high viscosity secondary organic aerosol,” Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2020; and Weimeng Kong from the California Institute of Technology, “Rapid growth of new atmospheric particles by nitric acid and ammonia condensation,” Nature 2020.
Ms. Sue Wagner—former Nevada Gaming Commissioner, Nevada Lieutenant Governor, and DRI employee and widow of Dr. Peter B. Wagner—created the Peter B. Wagner Memorial Award for Women in Atmospheric Sciences in 1998. Dr. Wagner, an atmospheric scientist who had been a faculty member at the Desert Research Institute since 1968, was killed while conducting research in a 1980 plane crash that also claimed the lives of three other Institute employees.
In 1981, Dr. Wagner’s family and friends established a memorial scholarship to provide promising graduate students in the Desert Research Institute’s Atmospheric Sciences Program a cash award to further their professional careers. Ms. Wagner later extended that opportunity nationally and specifically for women through the creation of the Peter B. Wagner Memorial Award in 1998.
The Desert Research Institute (DRI) is a recognized world leader in basic and applied interdisciplinary research. Committed to scientific excellence and integrity, DRI faculty, students, and staff have developed scientific knowledge and innovative technologies in research projects around the globe. Since 1959, DRI’s research has advanced scientific knowledge, supported Nevada’s diversifying economy, provided science-based educational opportunities, and informed policy makers, business leaders, and community members. With campuses in Reno and Las Vegas, DRI serves as the non-profit research arm of the Nevada System of Higher Education. For more information, please visit www.dri.edu.
Past – Our annual EnergySmart Educator Workshop is scheduled and open for registration! The workshop will be held virtually on October 26th, 27th, and 28th from 4 pm – 5 pm daily on Zoom. Educators will get a chance to hear from a DRI Scientist and discuss Climate Change, learn about Clean Energy Solutions and get familiar with all the energy focused Classroom Resources available to Nevada’s educators.
This event is made possible by generous grants from Southwest Gas and NV Energy.
A Q&A with Matt Bromley on remote sensing and the OpenET project
Matt Bromley, M.S., is an Assistant Research Scientist with the Division of Hydrologic Sciences at the Desert Research Institute (DRI) in Reno, and specializes in GIS and remote sensing. He holds a B.S. in Environmental Science and a M.S. in Geography from the University of Nevada, Reno. He is a native Nevadan, an Army veteran, and has been a member of the DRI community for ten years.
Matt is currently working alongside a team of scientists and web developers from DRI, NASA, Google and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to develop a new web application called OpenET (https://openetdata.org/), which will make satellite-based data on evapotranspiration widely accessible to farmers, landowners, and water managers. We recently sat down with Matt to learn the basics of remote sensing and how it is used in the OpenET project.
Matt Bromley, M.S. is a an Assistant Research Scientist with the Division of Hydrologic Sciences at DRI in Reno.
DRI: You specialize in remote sensing. Can you tell us a little bit about this field of study?
Bromley: Technically, remote sensing means “the acquisition of data from a distance.” In the context of the work that I do, it means studying the earth’s surface with satellites. These satellites are often sensitive to same portions of the light-spectrum that our human eyes can see, as well as portions of the light spectrum that we can’t see, such as infrared (thermal). The images and data that Earth-focused satellites provide are a great way to learn about the Earth from a distance. There are also other types of remote sensing data, such as aerial images from planes, Radar, and LIDAR, where you use laser light to determine distance which can allow you to measure terrain and geographic features.
DRI: What is OpenET, and what is your role in the project?
Bromley: To understand the importance of OpenET you have to first understand evapotranspiration (ET). ET is the process by which water is transferred from land to the atmosphere – through evaporation from soil and transpiration from plant leaves – which is approximately the amount of water used by crops to grow our food and other resources. OpenET is a new web application that will provide ET data to water managers, land owners, and farmers in 17 western states. We started building this tool in 2018 and it’s scheduled to launch in 2021.
My role is pretty varied within the project. I have a foot in the technical side of it, in that I’m working on some of the data used in the ET models as well as contributing to the analysis. I also have an outward facing role in that I engage with people and organizations who are the preliminary users of the data. I provide some analysis, answer questions, and act as the bridge between the teams developing the evapotranspiration data and the people using it.
OpenET is a new web application that will provide evapotranspiration data to water managers, land owners and farmers across 17 western states.
Credit: OpenET.
To learn more about OpenET project, visit their website at openetdata.org.
DRI: How do you use remote sensing data in the OpenET project?
Bromley: The team that I work with uses remote sensing to measure water use from irrigation. We use both optical and thermal data to get information from the land surface. Among other things, the optical data shows how green and healthy the vegetation is, and with the thermal data we can actually detect the cooling effect that’s produced when water evaporates.
When I started at DRI, remote sensing data was generally processed on individual computers. You had to download all the data yourself and then process it with specialized software. About ten years ago, Google started hosting climate and remote sensing data in the cloud. So, rather than having to download all the data to do your analysis on a desktop computer, you can instead send your analysis to the cloud (lots of computers), allowing you to get some of your answers much, much faster. OpenET makes use of that platform, processing remote sensing data through five different models. Through OpenET we’re able to produce not only individual model ET estimates, but also an ensemble estimate using all of those models.
DRI: What type of remote sensing data do you use to calculate evapotranspiration (ET)?
Bromley: All of it right now is from the Landsat series of satellites, which gives us the optical and thermal data that we need to calculate ET. Landsat is a series of earth-observations satellites which are operated as a joint program between NASA and the USGS. The modern series of Landsat satellites started in the early 1980s, so with this collection of data we can actually look back in time and see how water use has changed over the decades. The duration and consistency of the Landsat program really sets it apart from other sources of remote sensing data.
OpenET is being built by scientists and web developers from DRI, NASA, Google and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). The web application is scheduled to launch in 2021.
Credit: OpenET.
DRI: How did you become interested in working in this field?
Bromley: Being a native Nevadan, you grow up being aware of how special water is. As a kid my family would go on road trips through the Great Basin and as much as I loved seeing the sagebrush and mountains, it felt like we were discovering an oasis whenever we’d drive past a river or lake. In working to understand water use, I’m providing information to the people who manage that precious resource, as well as to the farmers and ranchers who grow our food. It feels like I’m helping not just my community but the state and the region.
The work that we’re doing at DRI and with OpenET is especially important, because detailed information on water use at a large scale has typically been hard to access and very expensive. OpenET is working to change that and make this data widely accessible to spark improvements an innovation in water management across the West.
“In working to understand water use, I’m providing information to the people who manage that precious resource, as well as to the farmers and ranchers who grow our food.”
Additional information
Other DRI scientists that work on the OpenET project include Justin Huntington, Charles Morton, Britta Daudert and Jody Hansen.
Photo caption: Smoke from wildfires covering the city of Sparks, Nevada. Credit: GChapel, Adobe Images.
Reno, Nev. (Sept. 22, 2020) – For people who suffer from asthma, wildfire smoke is more hazardous than other types of air pollution, according to a new study from the Desert Research Institute (DRI), the Renown Institute for Health Innovation (Renown IHI) and the Washoe County Health District (WCHD).
The study, which published last month in the journal Environmental Health, examined associations between airborne particulate matter (PM) from sources such as wildfire, transportation and industry, and medical visits for asthma at Renown Health’s emergency departments and urgent care centers in Reno, Nev. during the six-year period from 2013-2018.
According to their results, on days when wildfire smoke was present, elevated levels of PM2.5 (fine particles of 0-2.5 micrometers in size, about 30 times smaller than a human hair) led to a 6.1 percent increase in medical visits for asthma patients when compared with days of similar pollution levels that came from non-wildfire sources.
“Since we found significantly stronger associations of PM2.5 with asthma visits when wildfire smoke was present, our results suggest that wildfire PM is more hazardous than non-wildfire PM for patients with asthma,” said lead author Daniel Kiser, M.S., Data Scientist with DRI and Renown IHI.
Above, a timelapse video from DRI’s Western Regional Climate Center shows an impressive smoke front move into the city of Reno on August 18, 2013. The smoke, which rolls in at approximately 1:05 in the video, was from the American River fire near Sacramento, Calif.
An increase in the harmfulness of PM from wildfires compared to PM from other sources may be attributable to differences in the chemical composition of PM or changes in human behavior, since people are more likely to be outdoors in the summer, when wildfires typically occur. The research team notes that caution should be used when applying these results to other areas of the country, such as the Southeastern United States, since the harmfulness of wildfire smoke may be affected by the type of fuel that is being burned. Other factors, such as the distance that wildfire smoke was carried by the wind and burn temperature, may also play a role in the harmfulness of wildfire smoke.
The researchers found that air quality in the Reno area was affected by wildfire smoke on a total of 188 days during the study period. A total of 18,836 asthma-related emergency room and urgent care visits occurred over the same five-year period of time, indicating that the influences of wildfire smoke and other types of air pollution on this medical condition are important to understand.
“In places like Reno, where wildfire events occur regularly during parts of the year and are expected to become more frequent in the future, an accurate understanding of the impacts of wildfire smoke on population health is critical,” Kiser said.
From left to right, this series of three photos documents recent air quality conditions on clear, moderate, very smoky days in Stead, Nev. Credit: Daniel Kiser/DRI.
Additional Information:
The full text of the article “Particulate matter and emergency visits for asthma: a time-series study of their association in the presence and absence of wildfire smoke in Reno, Nevada, 2013–2018,” is available from Environmental Health: https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-020-00646-2
The Desert Research Institute (DRI) is a recognized world leader in basic and applied interdisciplinary research. Committed to scientific excellence and integrity, DRI faculty, students, and staff have developed scientific knowledge and innovative technologies in research projects around the globe. Since 1959, DRI’s research has advanced scientific knowledge, supported Nevada’s diversifying economy, provided science-based educational opportunities, and informed policymakers, business leaders, and community members. With campuses in Reno and Las Vegas, DRI serves as the non-profit research arm of the Nevada System of Higher Education. For more information, visit www.dri.edu.
Science Alive is happy to announce this year’s group of AmeriCorps members serving as our STEM Education Outreach Coordinators! Our programs and various projects are only made possible by the hard work, innovative ideas and range of expertise brought to us by our serving AmeriCorps. Read their bios below and look forward to hearing from them as they bring STEM education to learners across the state!
I was born and raised in Las Vegas, but have had the privilege of living and working in Reno, Florida and Indiana as well. At an early age I discovered a deep love for the natural world. I am naturally a very sensitive person, and have always found that I feel the most at peace while immersed in nature. Some of my favorite memories during school were the times we had class outside, or when I was chosen to be in charge of feeding the desert tortoises in our courtyard! In college, I discovered that I also had a passion for teaching. After graduation I fell into the environmental education field and knew immediately it was my calling.
After working in the field for a couple of years, I decided to continue my academic career and pursue a master’s degree in environmental education in Indiana. The program had a profound effect on me and really helped me refine my identity as an educator. I am so excited to be back in the job field, and to put to use all I’ve learned. At the heart of everything I’ve done and want to do is a desire to help others develop love and appreciation for the natural world. I also hope to keep pushing forward and advocating for environmental education in schools.
In my free time I enjoy being outdoors, reading, cooking and listening to music. I have recently taken up nature photography as a hobby and absolutely love it! I am also a huge bird nerd and love being able to find and check unique ones off my list.
I am from Chattanooga, TN and recently graduated with my Bachelor’s degree in Biosystems Engineering from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. My major was very small and gave me a broad background as well as a tight-knit group of friends. Having such a small, intimate school setting really allowed me to create strong relationships with my peers and professors. My favorite subjects in school have always been environmental science and chemistry, and I am excited to share that I love with others with similar interests.
I wanted to expand my horizons and leave my comfort zone, which is part of the reason I applied for the position at DRI. I have spent the last three years as an interpretive ranger with the Tennesee State Parks and worked with people from all walks of life. Through that work I have found that I really enjoy the interpersonal relationships that can be made while engaging people in science education.
I love being outside and thrive on learning new things. In my free time I love exploring the natural world, playing guitar and spending time with my 2 year old cat, Mac, who accompanies me on all my adventures. I am so excited to join the team and work with Nevada’s educators!
I am a continuing STEM Education Outreach Coordinator at DRI! It’s a fulfilling job, and this experience is only possible thanks to AmeriCorps. I’d heard of DRI many times as I grew up in Reno, and doing good work with them still feels unreal in the best way. I’ve decided to continue my service with Science Alive because I enjoy working with such a brilliant team. I’ve had the pleasure of working with each member of DRI’s Office of Education, and every one of them is creative and knowledgeable. I learn something new every day I work at DRI!
My favorite subject in school was English because I love reading and writing – putting words on paper still gives me joy. When I was a senior in high school, my English teacher put journal prompts on the board for our first in-class activity every day. He then asked us to discuss our responses, and he was open to and understanding of everyone’s perspective; his encouragement of independent thought guided me toward English, education and empathy.
To all the teachers out there: you are resilient superstars, and I appreciate your dedication to your craft. The world is in a state of flux, and you handle its difficulties with grace and poise. This is not easy, and I am impressed by all of you! You deserve more recognition than I can give in this short write up.
In my free time I love to read or play video games. There are so many good stories in games, and the really good ones get my brain moving in new ways!
My name is Brittany, I graduated in May of 2020 from Wittenberg University with a B.S. in Environmental Science and minors in Biology and Psychology. As a Nashville, TN native I grew up exploring and learning to love the outdoors. As a US Sailing Certified Small Boat Instructor I taught sailing for three summers, and I just completed a season as a biological science technician with the US Forest Service in northern Michigan.
As an individual who is passionate about sharing knowledge and life-long learning, I am extremely excited to be working as the STEM Education Outreach Coordinator for Northern NV at DRI. Growing up in school my favorite subjects were science and theatre arts, as both keep the mind active and were hands on! I attended an Art2STEM camp through my middle school that opened my mind to the possibility of a career within the sciences; I hope to be able to serve as that spark for future generations.
In my free time you can find me traveling, exploring new places, the outdoors, buying plants, and petting every dog possible. I am ecstatic to be joining such a strong team of scientists and educators!
OpenET will provide easily accessible satellite-based water data to help build a resilient future for agriculture.
The Desert Research Institute (DRI), the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), NASA, and Google, proudly announced plans today to develop a new web application called OpenET to enable western U.S. farmers and water managers to accurately track water consumption by crops and other vegetation using data from satellites and weather stations.
“OpenET will help fill one of the biggest data gaps in water management in the western United States. Our primary goal is to make sure we are providing evapotranspiration data that is accurate, consistent, scientifically based and useful for water management, whether for an individual agricultural field or an entire river basin,” said Forrest Melton, program scientist for the NASA Western Water Applications Office. “OpenET is being created through an innovative collaboration among a national team of scientists, technology experts, farmers, government policy-makers and environmental nonprofits.”
Currently, access to accurate, timely satellite-based data on the amount of water used to grow food is fragmented and often expensive, keeping it out of the hands of many farmers and decision-makers. Water supplies in the western U.S. are critical to the health of our communities, food supply and wildlife, but they are facing increasing pressures in the face of population growth and a changing climate.
“After 10 years of working with farmers and water agencies to develop ET estimates, it couldn’t be more rewarding to be creating an application like OpenET that uses best available science and makes ET data much more affordable and accessible to all,” said Justin Huntington, a research professor at the Desert Research Institute. “We also see OpenET having the potential to scale up to other regions of the world, including South America and Africa.”
Applications of OpenET data include:
Informing irrigation management and scheduling practices to maximize “crop per drop” and reduce costs for water and fertilizer.
Enabling water and land managers to develop more accurate water budgets and innovative management programs that promote adequate water supplies for agriculture, people and ecosystems.
Supporting groundwater management, water trading and conservation programs that increase the economic viability of agriculture across the West.
“OpenET will empower farmers and water managers across the West to build more accurate water budgets and identify stress, resulting in a more resilient system for agriculture, people and ecosystems,” said Robyn Grimm, senior manager, water information systems, at EDF. “We envision OpenET leveling the playing field by providing all farmers with data that until now have not been widely accessible to everyone.”
Using publicly available data from multiple satellites and weather stations, OpenET will bring together an ensemble of well-established methods to calculate ET on a single platform. This approach will ensure data continuity, help refine the strengths and accuracy of the methods, and create a well-documented, shared basis for decision-making that truly represents the best available science.
What is Evapotranspiration?
The “ET” in OpenET stands for evapotranspiration — the process by which water evaporates from the land surface and transpires from plants. Evapotranspiration, a key measure of water consumed by crops and vegetation, can be tracked by satellites because the process cools plants and soil down, so irrigated fields appear cooler in satellite images.
Using publicly available data, OpenET will make several methods for estimating evapotranspiration more widely accessible, ultimately helping to build broader trust and agreement around this information. OpenET will also make it possible to track the amount of evapotranspiration reduced when farmers change cropping patterns, invest in new technologies, or adopt water-saving practices.
OpenET is expected to be available to the public in 2021.
OpenET will initially provide field-scale ET data in 17 states, with plans to expand to the entire United States and beyond. States include Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
Download the OpenET Frequently Asked Questions on OpenETdata.org
Unprecedented Collaboration
OpenET is being developed with input from more than 100 stakeholders across the West.
“OpenET is a powerful application of cloud computing that will lead to measurable results on the ground in the agriculture sector. Google is proud to support such an important new tool,” said Google Earth Engine developer advocate Tyler Erickson.
DRI, NASA, EDF, and HabitatSeven are the project leads for OpenET. Additional collaborators include Google Earth Engine, USGS, USDA Agricultural Research Service, California State University Monterey Bay, University of Idaho, University of Maryland, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The OpenET project has received funding from the NASA Applied Sciences Program Western Water Applications Office, S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, Water Funder Initiative, Lyda Hill Philanthropies, Delta Water Agencies, and the Windward Fund. In-kind support has been provided by Google Earth Engine and partners in the agricultural and water management communities.
Providing farmers and local water managers free ET data is a core objective of the OpenET project. For-profit entities and other organizations looking for large-scale access to OpenET data will be able to purchase it through an application programming interface (API). Revenue generated will fund continuing research and development of OpenET data services.
Above, left: An artist’s conception of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), the eighth satellite in the long-running Landsat program, flying over the US Gulf Coast. Above, right: OpenET will cover 17 western U.S. states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Over time, the intent is to expand OpenET to include other states in the U.S. and other regions across the globe.
Credit: Vic Etyemezian/DRI.
Support for OpenET
“The Harney Basin is running a groundwater deficit of 120,000 acre-feet to 130,000 acre-feet per year. We have used ET data to gain a better understanding of our water consumption and design more efficient irrigation systems that use about 15% less water. This could translate to a savings of 18% to 20% on electricity costs for pumping, too. With the demands on water from a growing population and feeding more people, we have to figure out how to get the best value from every drop of water. ET data is crucial to providing this information. ” —Oregon State Rep. Mark Owens. Mr. Owens owns or manages 3,200 acres of farmland in Oregon.
“Reliable water data is almost as critical to farmers and water managers as the water supply itself. With added pressure from population growth and the uncertainty that climate change impacts have on existing and future water supply, OpenET allows planning for agricultural water needs in a way that just wasn’t possible before.” —E. Joaquin Esquivel, Chair of the California State Water Resources Control Board
“Every five years, the Bureau of Reclamation is tasked with creating a report that summarizes water use and loss for the Upper Colorado River Basin states. Currently, there are several satellite-based methodologies to measure water, many of which will be incorporated into OpenET. Consequently, OpenET will serve as a valuable tool for us to test and compare ET measurement methodologies to determine the best approach for future studies.” —James Prairie, Hydrologic Engineer, U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation
“OpenET will be a valuable tool to estimate historical and current water consumed by crops across Nevada. OpenET data also will be especially useful for monitoring consumptive use to support local groundwater management plans that are needed in response to long-term groundwater level declines.” —Adam Sullivan, P.E., Nevada Deputy State Engineer
“To comply with the new groundwater law in California, it’s imperative to have accurate, transparent water use data to serve to build a groundwater budget. But currently ET data can be very expensive to acquire from consultants or universities, and the methodologies are often inconsistent and unclear. Consequently, Rosedale turned to OpenET for accurate parcel-level ET water data at a lower cost to build an online accounting platform for our landowners to more easily manage their own groundwater budgets. Because the OpenET project has brought together a team of leading experts on several approaches for measuring ET, I’m confident it will become the de facto source of water data among landowners and water managers alike.” —Eric Averett, General Manager, Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District (California)
“OpenET represents a game-changing leap forward for water management in the West. OpenET will give water users in the Delta a much less expensive alternative method for complying with the state requirement to monitor and report on their water diversions. Instead of physically measuring every diversion in the Delta, farmers will be able to look up OpenET’s estimate of their crop water use. If the estimate is acceptable to the farmer, the farmer knows that it will be acceptable to us. Concurring on OpenET’s ensemble measurement will save time, money and confusion.” —Michael George, Delta Watermaster (California)
“OpenET is a great step forward for managing water needs in a time when demand far surpasses supply. Helping our farmers and ranchers more effectively manage their water use not only helps their crop and bottom line, but creates opportunities for more water to remain in our river systems to benefit both people and nature.” —Aaron Derwingson, Water Projects Director, Colorado River Program, The Nature Conservancy
LAS VEGAS – Dr. Kumud Acharya, an ecological engineer whose pioneering work in Nevada helped local and state water managers address aquatic invasive species threatening both Lake Mead and Lake Tahoe, was appointed the permanent president of the Desert Research Institute by the Nevada Board of Regents on Thursday.
“President Acharya is a highly respected and well-admired scientist by his colleagues and the institute community. I am confident he is the right person to lead DRI moving forward,” said Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Chancellor Melody Rose.
Board of Regents Chair Mark Doubrava added, “Over the past year I believe Kumud has shown his ability to help advance DRI’s stellar reputation in research and promote how the work done at DRI helps us better understand the world and improve the lives of all Nevadans.”
Dr. Acharya, who was given a four-year contract, said he was humbled and honored to be named DRI’s permanent president.
“I am honored to be selected by the Board of Regents, Chancellor Rose, and the faculty and staff to serve this great Institution,” said President Acharya. “I am humbled by the trust that the faculty and staff have placed in me and I will work to further DRI’s mission of performing world-class scientific research to improve people’s lives throughout Nevada and the world.”
ABOUT Dr. Kumud Acharya
Dr. Acharya began his career at DRI in 2006 as an assistant research professor. During his tenure, he has brought in over $18 million in external research grants and contracts and has previously served as the interim Vice President for Research, a senior director of DRI’s former Center for Environmental Remediation and Monitoring, as Executive Director for DRI’s Division of Hydrologic Sciences, and as the Chief Technology Advisor for Water Start.
Prior to joining DRI, Dr. Acharya served five years combined as a postdoctoral and endowed research fellow at Arizona State University and the University of Louisville. He has a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, M.S. in Environmental Engineering, and Ph.D. in Biology and Environmental Sciences.
The Desert Research Institute (DRI) is a recognized world leader in basic and applied interdisciplinary research. Committed to scientific excellence and integrity, DRI faculty, students, and staff have developed scientific knowledge and innovative technologies in research projects around the globe. Since 1959, DRI’s research has advanced scientific knowledge, supported Nevada’s diversifying economy, provided science-based educational opportunities, and informed policymakers, business leaders, and community members. With campuses in Reno and Las Vegas, DRI is one of eight institutions in the Nevada System of Higher Education.
The Nevada System of Higher Education, comprised of two doctoral-granting universities, a state college, four comprehensive community colleges, and one environmental research institute, serves the educational and job training needs of Nevada. NSHE provides educational opportunities to more than 100,000 students and is governed by the Board of Regents.
FIRST Nevada has announced an exciting and dynamic 2020-2021 robotics competition season with a variety of options for participating teams to get involved. This year’s season has been deemed FIRST Game Changers– powered by Star Wars: Force for Change and in partnership with Disney and Lucasfilms, the 20/21 season will have virtual events as well as hybrid solutions in accordance with safety guidelines.
The 20/21 season start date has been pushed back to give teams more preparation time and all events and workshops will be delivery virtually until the end of the calendar year. Students participating in FTC and FRC programs are still eligible for internships and scholarship opportunities.
In addition to the plan for modified events, FIRST Nevada has committed to covering this season’s registration fees for existing FIRST Lego League Challenge and FIRST Tech Challenge teams! More information on the details of this year’s team support will be shared soon by FIRST.
FIRST has resources and guidelines available to support teams during this year’s season. Links to these resources can be found below or on FIRST Nevada’s website. Additional resources will be shared on their website and social media pages as they become available.
FIRST @ Home – resources and activities for teams and learners
FIRST Learn and Share – Facebook pages dedicated to networking, sharing knowledge and best practices from teams around the world.
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: What is Valley Fever?
Etyemezian: Valley Fever is an infection that you can get from breathing in spores of a fungus called Coccidioides. In some people the infection is mild or flu-like, but in others, especially people who are immunocompromised, this fungus can cause a serious or even fatal infection. Valley Fever seems to occur primarily in the southwestern US, but it is also found in parts of Central and South America. The military has a record of people stationed at bases in the southwestern US getting sick from Valley Fever going all the way back to the 1940s, so it does seem to occur in and around the training lands that they use in the southwest. The military also has really good records, so it is likely broadly occurring in the arid southwest – it’s just that they have great records in these places.
DRI’s Vic Etyemezian (left) and Jack Gillies (Right) inspect dust measurement instrumentation mounted onto a telescoping tower at Jean Dry Lake Bed in Southern Nevada. The measurements that ensued were critical for calibrating the TRAKER instrument.
Credit: George Nikolich/DRI.
DRI: How did you originally become interested in studying this disease?
Etyemezian: Six or seven years ago, I was working on a DRI project at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in the Mojave Desert of southern California related to potential future impacts of climate change on capital infrastructure such as buildings and runways. My colleague, Dr. Antje Lauer from Cal State University Bakersfield, was there at the site working on a different project related to the potential influence of climate change on Valley Fever. Our own Dr. Lynn Fenstermaker (also working on the Armstrong project) and NASA’s now retired Dr. Tom Mace had the foresight to introduce Antje and me to one another and identify that we can leverage each other’s expertise. We got into a discussion of whether there was some overlap between her Valley Fever research and the dust research that George Nikolich and I do. We did a little pilot (exploratory) work together, and then put in a proposal to the DoD SERDP Program to do a project near several military facilities in the Southwest to see if we could say something about how Valley Fever might be changing with climate.
Read the new paper, “Valley Fever: Environmental Risk Factors and Exposure Pathways Deduced from Field Measurements in California”, in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
DRI: Tell us a little bit about the paper that you and your colleagues just published. What were your major research questions?
Etyemezian: In this study, we were trying to find out several things, and the paper that was led by my colleague, Dr. Lauer reported our preliminary findings. One, are there any environmental parameters that can help us identify whether or not this Coccidioides fungus will be present at a given site? Can we say that this fungus tends to be found in certain kinds of soils, or on certain slopes of hillsides, or on shaded hillsides, or in soils with a certain chemistry? If so, then we can look at some of these properties and try to identify areas that are fairly high risk for the fungus.
The second goal was to determine whether dust was a possible pathway by which people are getting exposed to this fungus. So, in areas where you find this fungus in the soil, can you also find it in the dust that comes off of the surface during high winds, or in the dust that gets stirred up when someone drives a vehicle along a dirt road? We hypothesized that this study may be of particular relevance for people in the military, because oftentimes they are working in very dusty conditions, especially during training exercises. Our study sites were located around three military bases in southern California, all of which have documented cases of Valley Fever throughout the years.
Above, left: George Nikolich (Division of Atmospheric Sciences, DRI) notes field conditions as he oversees a PI-SWERL test near Edwards Air Force Base in California. The orange case contains specialized instrumentation for collecting particles that are suspended by the PI-SWERL during its testing cycle. These are later analyzed for fungal DNA. Above, right: George Nikolich preparing the TRAKER instrument for measuring and collecting dust from unpaved roads near Twentynine Palms, California.
Credit: Vic Etyemezian/DRI.
DRI: What was your/DRI’s role in this investigation?
Etyemezian: Our expertise mainly came in in the area of dust. We used an instrument called the PI-SWERL®, which was developed at DRI, on dozens of test surfaces to simulate high winds on that suspend dust from the surface into the air. Then we collected that dust and gave it to our colleague, Dr. Lauer, for analysis to see if she could find DNA of the fungus. We also used another device that we developed at DRI called the TRAKER™, which is basically a heavily instrumented vehicle that you can drive on unpaved roads . As you drive on these dirt roads and suspend dust behind the vehicle, you can sample this material, and then subject it to analysis to see if there is genetic material from airborne Coccidiodes spores in that dust.
DRI: What were some of your findings?
Etyemezian: It’s important to emphasize that this was really kind of a pilot study. One of the things that was pretty clear from the study was that there are unfortunately no simple parameters you can look at in the soil to determine whether or not this fungus exists at a given location. It appears to be fairly widespread across the southwest. Another finding was that traveling in a vehicle on unpaved roads in these endemic areas is a plausible pathway for exposure, and farmers or military folks who live and train in these areas might get exposed to potentially high concentrations of infectious fungal material.
Overall, it seems that there are sort of two endpoints in the landscape. If you look at a natural desert landscape that hasn’t been disturbed in some time, you could find a lot of the Valley Fever pathogen in the actual soil, but the potential for the fungus to be suspended under normal windy conditions seems to be quite small. And if you look at an extremely disturbed landscape such as a farm, where you’ve completely changed the original ecosystem, it appears that there’s very little fungus or Valley Fever spores – maybe because people apply fungicide to the crops and are creating not a very hospitable environment. But it seems like there’s a period of time in between, when you’re transitioning from a natural landscape to an extremely anthropogenically impacted landscape, that’s probably when and where the exposure happens.
Student Eduardo Garcia (left, CSU Bakersfield), George Nikolich (middle, DRI), and Dr. Antje Lauer (Right, CSU Bakersfield) standing next to PI-SWERL during a test on a heavily disturbed surface near Twentynine Palms, California.
Credit: Vic Etyemezian/DRI.
DRI: How do you hope that these findings are used?
All of our research findings are preliminary, but they essentially provide a conceptual model of how we think the exposure happens. We think that most of the time when people are exposed to this, it is probably as a result of a recent land disturbance — maybe a construction or farming activity that disturbs otherwise undisturbed landscapes. So, you have this fungus that’s been growing in the soils at some depth below the surface for who knows how long, and then all of the sudden, something changes. You pull off the vegetation, you turn it over, and as a result you bring a lot of this fungus to the surface. Then as a part of that process, you have an enormous amount of material available for resuspension by wind or even direct resuspension. So, I think a logical next step would be to very specifically target those kinds of activities to see if that hypothesis holds true.
Additional Information
The full text of the paper “Valley Fever: Environmental Risk Factors and Exposure Pathways Deduced from Field Measurements in California,” is available from the International Journal of Environmental Health and Public Research: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/15/5285
Howdy everyone, and welcome to DRI’s Science Alive blog! Last time we gave you a quick rundown of what Science Alive does, with Green Boxes forming one of the core components of our educational outreach. While we appreciate the hands-on experience that each Green Box provides, current circumstances have changed the ways we can deliver STEM education content to educators and students. Due to the need for social distancing, we’ve been working to find new ways to provide our current educational resources to teachers for both in-person instruction and virtual classrooms. Science Alive is still shipping Green Boxes to educators this fall, albeit in a limited capacity and only to schools with in-person instruction. If you are interested in reserving a Green Box for you and your students, click here to see what boxes are available. Teachers and students in Nevada have had to quickly adapt to changes to instruction, from hybrid models to fully online learning. This is why our team has also been hard at work converting Green Box content into virtual lessons and activities. With these virtual resources at your disposal, students of all ages can access fun STEM lessons from the comfort of their homes.You can find our current virtual resources here. More content is on the way, so check back frequently for updates! Another in the works project has been adapting STEM kits and STEM stations into easy-to-use online activities. Perhaps we should say “easy-to-enjoy,” as many of these resources are made to be fun as well as educational. Each online STEM resource we adapt includes a video component that explains the science underlying the activity, as well as a walk-through for each activity. Some feature links to online quizzes to pique learners’ curiosity – we love it when learners of all ages think and wonder! We will include thesesupplementary STEM resourcesalongside our lessons, to be employed and enjoyed as you see fit, as well as hosting them on our YouTube channel. On the subject of virtual versus face-to-face education, one of our biggest challenge this spring was our inability to bring our EnergySmart education to classrooms due to shelter in place orders. In partnership with NV Energy and Southwest Gas, Science Alive has adapted the face-to-face EnergySmart program into a virtual program! We hope that this way, more teachers and students across the state of Nevada may benefit from fun energy conservation education. If you would like to know more about Science Alive’sEnergySmart program, please follow this link to our webpage. EnergySmart resources are also listed on our Online Resources web page! Lastly, Science Alive acknowledges the power of videos to deliver quality information and education. Our YouTube channel features a variety of videos for learners, including interviews with DRI scientists, winning entries from our annual EnergySmart PSA contest, and videos of fun, DIY STEM activities. It encapsulates a broad range of our content, and will continue to grow as we refine and expand our educational offerings. Check out our YouTube channel and all it has to offer here! Before we conclude this post, we’d like to point out that our new website is still a work-in-progress. Many of the most important pieces are in place, and most of our content is already available there; however, it will continue to expand as we create more resources for educators across Nevada. We urge you to bookmark our website as an easy, helpful resource you may use again and again. We invite everyone, including parents and families to make use of our virtual resources. Thanks for reading. Until next time stay safe, healthy, and have fun learning!
Thanks to support from the Nevada STEM Networks, Nevada Robotics has created a new Robotics STEM Kit called Robot Recipe!
STEM Kits are science and engineering activity kits uniquely designed by Science Alive to support formal and informal educators in teaching easy to set-up, fun and interactive STEM units. All instructional materials and hands-on teaching tools needed to complete three or more activities are contained within a small suitcase for convenient shipping to educators across the state. Current offerings focus on space science, but we are excited to add a robotics themed STEM Kit into the mix!
A screenshot of the STEM Kit reservation page.
The Robot Recipe STEM Kit can be tailored to learners of all ages and introduces students to robotics with quick, hands-on activities about simple machines, sensors and coding. Students are provided a robotics-themed science notebook to record their observations, questions and ideas as they move through each activity. We are still putting the finishing touches on this robotics-themed STEM Kit, so keep an eye out for a release date in the near future!
A close up of some of the Robot Recipe STEM Kit activity materials and instructions.
When complete, the Robot Recipe STEM Kit will be available to check out for FREE to formal and informal educators in Nevada through Science Alive’s Green Box program. You can learn more about the Green Box program and how to reserve a STEM Kit on the Science Alive website.
Featured research by DRI’s Kristin VanderMolen, Ben Hatchett, Erick Bandala, and Tamara Wall
Above: Aerial view of California’s Imperial Valley, where daytime temperatures during summer months can reach as high as 120 degrees. Credit: Thomas Barrat/Shutterstock.com
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.
Although the National Weather Service and public health organizations issue heat warnings to communicate risk during extreme heat events, heat-related illness and death are still common among vulnerable populations. Now, a group of DRI scientists led by Kristin VanderMolen, Ph.D., Assistant Research Professor with DRI’s Division of Atmospheric Sciences, is trying to figure out why.
“With the continued increase in episodes of extreme heat and heat waves, there has been an increase in warning messaging programs, yet there continue to be high numbers of heat-related illness and death in communities along the US-Mexico border,” VanderMolen said. “So, there’s this question – if agencies are doing all of this messaging, and people are still getting sick and even dying, then what’s going on?”
An agricultural field in California’s Imperial Valley, where DRI researchers are exploring questions about heat messaging and vulnerability in populations of agricultural workers and others who are vulnerable to heat-related illness and death.
Credit: Winthrop Brookhouse/Shutterstock.com
Assessing heat messaging: An interdisciplinary approach
In 2018, VanderMolen and colleagues Ben Hatchett, Ph.D., Erick Bandala, Ph.D., and Tamara Wall, Ph.D. received funding from NOAA’s International Research and Applications Project (IRAP) to explore questions about heat messaging and vulnerability in two pairs of US-Mexico border cities, San Diego-Tijuana and Calexico-Mexicali. Collectively these areas form the boundaries of the Cali-Baja Bi-national Megaregion. This unique transboundary location integrates the economies of the United States and Mexico, exporting approximately $24.3 billion worth of goods and services each year.
With expertise in the areas of anthropology, meteorology, climatology, and population health, this interdisciplinary team of researchers is now working on this problem from several angles. They are using climate data to characterize and assess past heat extremes as well as using long-range weather forecasts and climate projections to help improve the ability to put out advance messaging about future heat waves. They are working to identify and map populations that are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat and are collaborating with local agencies to understand why people may or may not take protective action during heat waves.
From initial conversations with local civic organizations and public health agencies, the team has learned that the reasons people may not be following heat warnings are complex. Recommended actions such as “stay indoors and seek air-conditioned buildings,” or “take longer and more frequent breaks,” may not be realistic for agricultural workers or others who don’t have access to air-conditioned spaces. There can even be negative consequences for those who choose to seek medical help.
“A big piece of the story that we’ve heard from some of the independent groups that work with agricultural workers in the region is that if someone gets sick and doesn’t show up for work, they can lose their job,” Hatchett explained. “If they go to the hospital and somebody sees them or hears about it, they can lose their job. There are some really big issues related to people not feeling okay with trying to get the help they need.”
“There is evidence to suggest that cases of heat-related illness and death are underreported, probably severely underreported,” VanderMolen added. “The demographics of the individuals for documented cases don’t reflect the population demographics overall. We know that there are a lot of inequalities in that area that may get in the way of people reporting illness.”
A map of summer maximum near-surface temperatures over the 30-year period from 1981–2010 shows that Imperial Valley (at the border between Mexico and the southeastern corner of California) is the hottest place in in North America, with an average maximum temperature from June to August of 40° Celsius (104° Fahrenheit). Data is from the North American Regional Reanalysis.
Credit: Ben Hatchett/DRI
COVID-19 complications and next steps
Originally, VanderMolen was planning to travel to the US-Mexico border this summer to do one-on-one interviews with members of vulnerable populations, but the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unforeseen complications.
Imperial County has been hit very hard by COVID-19, compounding the effects of extreme heat for the vulnerable populations that VanderMolen and her team hope to work with. The pandemic has also made it unfeasible to travel to the region to do face-to-face interviews, and has created challenges in coordinating with local agencies that are now overwhelmed in their efforts to address COVID-19.
“It’s a really interesting place and time to do this work because there are questions about what it means to be on stay-at-home orders and limited travel orders when it’s 114 degrees outside and you don’t have reliable air conditioning or its cost is prohibitive,” VanderMolen said. “At the same time, because they’re so overwhelmed right now with caseload, most folks in the area can’t really afford to address issues beyond COVID-19.”
As the research team works to navigate a path forward that is safe for both the interviewers and interviewees, they remain committed to developing information that will help vulnerable populations along the border.
“I hope that the information we provide is something decision-makers can use to make the right decision or create legislation that can help protect workers in the field, or at least call attention to the kind of inequalities and risk that the people there are being exposed to,” Bandala said. “Or, if we can produce information to change the mindset of the people to start thinking of themselves as a population at risk, and put more attention on the heat warnings, that will suffice for me to feel satisfied with the results of our research.”
The US-Mexico border is just one of many places around the globe where heat-related illness is a problem, added Hatchett – and many of those places happen to be where a lot of our food is grown or where important industries are located.
“I think this is a somewhat ubiquitous problem around the planet. We have these really important places that are susceptible to environmental extremes and these people that we rely on to have these regions be productive in terms of agriculture or industry. Unfortunately, those people are often the most susceptible and underserved populations to these compound environmental hazards,” Hatchett said. “It’s so easy to forget them, but one of the goals of this project is really to bring to light the importance of aiming much-needed resources at trying to help those populations and those places.”
Additional information
For more information on the members of this DRI research team, please visit:
Microplastics, plastic fragments that are smaller than 5 mm in any dimension, have been found in ecosystems worldwide. These emerging contaminants are even in environments that are supposed to be free from human contact, such as Antarctica and the deep ocean floor, and their toxic properties make them a significant environmental hazard.
“After the first acknowledgement of microplastics in the early 2000s, their presence in the environment has raised ever-increasing concerns because of their effects on organisms and ecosystems, and because approximately 1.5 million tons of microplastics are estimated to be released into aquatic environments every year,” explains Dr. Erick Bandala, the principal investigator of this project, which also includes Dr. Menake Piyasena from New Mexico Tech, graduate research assistants Adam Clurman and Ahdee Zeidman, and summer intern Yajahira Dircio. “Unfortunately, very little is known about the capability of engineered separation and/or degradation technologies to remove this highly ubiquitous contaminant.”
Commercial products that are manufactured to contain microplastics—such as personal care and pharmaceutical products, industrial abrasives, drilling fluids, and 3D printing products—are the primary sources of microplastics. However, the degradation of plastic debris can also generate microplastics.
“Wastewater treatment plant effluents are the main pathway for microplastics to be released into aquatic environments,” Bandala says. “Although the microplastic removal rate of a conventional wastewater treatment plant is reported to be in the range of 73 to 79 percent, the treated effluent can carry as much as 220,000 to 1.5 million microplastic particles per day.”
Yajahira Dircio, a student at Rancho High School and summer intern on the project, is preparing hydrochar from MPs using a sand band. Credit: Erick Bandala/DRI
In recent years, the effects microplastics have been found to have on aquatic species and their unknown effects on human health have increased concerns about their presence in water sources.
“Because conventional water treatment processes are unable to effectively eliminate microplastics in water, developing new technologies that can separate them from effluents and prevent their release into the environment is a high priority to protect water quality and water security,” Bandala says.
For this project, the researchers will use acoustic focusing and electrocoagulation to separate microplastics in freshwater effluents and determine the removal process mechanisms.
“Acoustic standing waves are a fast, noncontact, gentle particlemanipulation technique for microfluidic conditions that have emerged as a promising new technology for the purification, separation, and concentration of beads and biological cell samples,” Bandala explains.
The researchers will also assess the efficacy of using electrocoagulation to remove MPs from wastewater.
“Electrocoagulation has several significant advantages to conventional chemical coagulation, such as it increases treatment efficiency, generates less sludge, requires less space, and prevents chemical storage,” Bandala adds. “It has been proven to be highly efficient in removing contaminants. Our research group has used it for water defluoridation and to pretreat effluents that were heavily contaminated with petrochemicals.”
Because microplastics in freshwater are increasingly detected, it is even more important to find effective water treatment process that remove them.
“Although ultrafiltration, or microfiltration, have microplastic removal efficiencies as high as 99.4 percent, they also have high operational and maintenance costs and require skilled operators,” Bandala explains. “Finding efficient, costeffective methods to separate microplastics from freshwater effluents is critical to preventing population exposure.”
Adam Clurman, an undergraduate student at Nevada State College, is conducting the electrocoagulation experiments for the project. Credit: Erick Bandala
Another challenge that microplastics in freshwater present is how to dispose of them once they are removed from water. For this project, the researchers will use advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) as complementary processes to degrade the plastic waste after it has been separated from the wastewater. Advanced oxidation processes are an eco-friendly way to degrade organic compounds. In previous projects, the research group has tested the capability of these processes to degrade a wide variety of dissolved organic contaminants in water.
“Advanced oxidation processes have been used to degrade organics and have shown high cost-efficiency and short detention time compared with conventional water treatment processes,” Bandala explains. “Using AOPs to degrade microplastics will not only be an interesting challenge because of the complexity of their polymeric chains, but also because these contaminants are suspended in water and treating contaminants in a different phase in water using AOPs has not yet been reported.”
Maintaining the quality of water sources is an increasing issue, particularly in arid and semiarid regions with rapidly growing populations, such as Nevada.
“Desert Research Institute has reported the presence of MPs in places such as the Sierra Nevada and Lake Tahoe, which are the origin of several drinking water supply systems in Nevada,” Bandala explains. “We live in a region with a moderate-high water stress and as Nevadans, we need to protect our water sources from contamination to ensure the sustainable development of our communities.”
This story was originally written for the Nevada Water Resources Research Institute (NWRRI) Summer 2020 Newsletter. Success and the dedication to quality research have established DRI’s Division of Hydrologic Sciences (DHS) as the Nevada Water Resources Research Institute (NWRRI) under the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 (as amended). The work conducted through the NWRRI program is supported by the U.S. Geological Survey under Grant/Cooperative Agreement No. G16AP00069.
Clery Notice: Positive Case of Coronavirus on Campus
On Monday, August 17, 2020, Desert Research Institute was notified that a second DRI employee at our Reno campus tested positive for the Coronavirus (COVID-19). DRI issues the following notice of communicable disease that occurred on the Institute’s Reno Campus, Northern Nevada Science Center at 2215 Parkway., Reno, Nevada.
Date/Time of Incident: August 14, 2020
Location of Incident: DRI’s Reno Campus
Description of Incident: The employee accessed areas of the Institute’s Reno Campus – NNSC, CRVB, GBERL, and Maxey buildings. This person also worked closely with the other DRI employee who tested positive on Friday, August 14, 2020. The Washoe County Health District will contact those who may have been exposed due to extended close contact with the patient and will determine if further testing is needed.
The Washoe County Health District encourages anyone with concerns to call the General Public Helpline at 775-328-2427. The number is live Monday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for COVID-19 questions.
Clery Notice: Positive Case of Coronavirus on Campus
On Friday, August 14, 2020, Desert Research Institute was notified that DRI employee at our Reno campus tested positive for the Coronavirus (COVID-19). DRI issues the following notice of communicable disease that occurred on the DRI Reno Campus, Northern Nevada Science Center at 2215 Parkway., Reno, Nevada.
The health and well-being of our students and employees is something that is taken very seriously and is of the highest priority. We are issuing the following notice of communicable disease as an abundance of caution.
Date/Time of Incident: August 11, 2020
Location of Incident: DRI Reno Campus – Northern Nevada Science Center Building
Description of Incident: The employee accessed areas of DRI Reno Campus, Northern Nevada Science Center building. The Washoe County Health District will contact those who may have been exposed due to extended close contact with the patient and will determine if further testing is needed.
The Washoe County Health District encourages anyone with concerns to call the General Public Helpline at 775-328-2427. The number is live Monday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for COVID-19 questions.
Howdy everyone, and welcome to DRI’s Science Alive blog! What is DRI, you ask? And for that matter, what is Science Alive?
The Desert Research Institute (DRI for short) is the non-profit environmental research branch of the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) and is based in two locations: Reno and Las Vegas, Nevada. While it is based in Nevada, DRI conducts research all over the world – on all seven continents, in fact – and is even investigating phenomena on Mars!
Scientists and researchers at DRI study the land (earth and ecosystem sciences), the air (atmospheric sciences), and the water (hydrologic sciences) to address some of the biggest environmental problems facing us today. We have scientists researching airborne pollutants, studying the diverse problems caused by microplastics in our ecosystems, and investigating storm systems to better model annual precipitation. These are just a few examples of the fantastic work performed by DRI faculty every day.
As part of NSHE, DRI primarily focuses on basic and applied environmental research. Here we like learning to come full circle, so we devote considerable talent to distilling our researchers’ scientific ideas and findings into a variety of educational resources. That’s where Science Alive comes in. The Science Alive team uses their knowledge of diverse subjects to deliver STEM education to the next generation of scientists, engineers, and researchers.
This distilled education is converted into mobile suitcases of science lessons – bright green STEM extravaganzas we call Green Boxes! Each Green Box is pre-packed with a series of themed lessons and materials, all of which are provided by Science Alive at no cost to educators! K-12th grade teachers, as well as informal educators, may reserve the use of one of our Green Boxes for several weeks. Science Alive ships the suitcase to educators, who then use their expertise to deliver the contents to students.
We also offer STEM kits, which are smaller-scale science suitcases that provide STEM resources to formal or informal educators. Each STEM kit contains guidelines and materials for three activities that build on each other to teach various scientific concepts. Green Boxes and STEM kits are just two examples of the educational resources we provide – we also offer professional development through educator workshops, energy know-how through Home Energy Kits and the traveling Energy Theater Troupe, and much more. Teaching and learning can happen in a variety of settings, and Science Alive strives to provide a diverse selection of tools for whichever situation you happen to be in!
While Green Boxes and STEM kits form the crux of Science Alive’s educational outreach, the novel Coronavirus has created an educational landscape wherein face-to-face teachingposes risks topublic health. In–person attendance at public schools is under review for the foreseeable future, and we must adapt to these ever-changing times. In order to meet the evolving needs of educators, wehave new virtual resources in the works, and some of them are already available to the public! These offerings are available on our Online Resources page and will complementa limited release of Green Box reservations thisfall.
Science Alive has been using Green Boxes, STEM kits, and the other materials outlined above to create diverse online educational resources that can be completed by students virtually. The Green Box program is still the core of our output – we have merely adapted it to better suit the needs of educators in these times of distance education. No matter the challenge, our team remains dedicated to its mission: to provideNevada’s education community with STEM-based learning tools that are free and accessible.
By educating willing learners, Science Alive hopes to instill a passion for and understanding of science into Nevada’s communities and beyond. This is all in the hopes that our lessons are passed along, and a broader impact is generated to solve the conundrums of our time.
We appreciate your company on this journey, and hope you’ll follow along through rain, snow, or shine. Next time on the Science Alive Blog, we’ll give you a more in-depth look at our online offerings!
Science Alive has resources to help Nevada’s educators discover the wonders of space and engineering education. Inspired by NASA, all of these offerings are available to educators across the state for use in both formal and informal education.
NASA STEM Kits – Uniquely designed to support formal and informal use, each kit includes step-by-step lesson plans, all necessary materials for 150 participants and can be completed in one sitting or expanded into longer lessons. Current topics cover the phenomena of gravity, the electromagnetic spectrum and engineering and design. Reserve a NASA STEM Kit for use in your classroom by clicking here.
Astrobiology Green Box for 3rd Grade – Explore life on other planets through this unit of hands-on astrobiology lessons. Students will directly engage with space science and learn about the existence of life in extreme environments. Available for check out here.
NASA Virtual Reality Experience – Science Alive outreach staff members will bring a virtual reality (VR) assisted lesson directly into the classroom. Content covers space science and engineering and is provided by the NASA Commercial Crew Program. Interested in a visit? Contact our outreach team at ScienceAlive@www-dev.dri.edu
Nevada Robotics – Robotics are vital to a successful NASA mission! Get your school involved with robotics and robotics competitions through the Nevada Robotics program. Teacher trainings are held throughout the year to support new and veteran robotics coaches and their teams. Learn more by contacting AJ.Long@www-dev.dri.edu
Healthy Nevada Project’s community-based approach reveals up to 90% of CDC Tier 1 genetic condition risks missed using clinical care guidelines
Reno, Nev. (July 27, 2020) – In a new study published today in the journal Nature Medicine, researchers behind the Healthy Nevada Project® suggest that community-based genetic screening has the potential to efficiently identify individuals who may be at increased risk for three common inherited genetic conditions known to cause several forms of cancer and increased risk for heart disease or stroke.
In 2018, the Healthy Nevada Project® (the largest, community-based population health study combining genetic, clinical, environmental, and social data) started notifying consenting study participants who have certain genetic variants that predispose them to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Tier 1 genetic conditions. The study focused on identifying carriers of these conditions, which include Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer, Lynch Syndrome, and Familial Hypercholesterolemia, because they are the most common conditions and early detection and treatment could significantly lower morbidity and mortality.
Initial results from almost 27,000 study participants showed that 90% of carriers of the CDC Tier 1 genetic conditions were not previously identified in a clinical setting. The authors conclude that population genetic screening would identify at-risk carriers not identified during routine care.
“Our first goal was to deliver actionable health data back to the participants of the study and understand whether or not broad population screening of CDC Tier 1 genomic conditions was a practical tool to identify at-risk individuals,” explained Joseph Grzymski, Ph.D., the principal investigator of the Healthy Nevada Project®, a research professor at the Desert Research Institute (DRI), chief scientific officer for Renown Health and lead author of the study.
“Now, two years into doing that, it is clear that the clinical guidelines for detecting risk in individuals are too narrow and miss too many at-risk individuals.”
Within the group of 26,906 Healthy Nevada Project® participants that Grzymski’s research team studied, 358 (1.33%) were carriers for CDC Tier 1 conditions. However, only 25% of those individuals met clinical guidelines for genetic screening. Additionally, more than 20% of the carriers already had a diagnosis of disease-relevant to their underlying genetic condition.
“We’re at a point now where it’s possible to do clinical-grade genetic screening at population-scale,” added James Lu, M.D. Ph.D., co-founder and chief scientific officer of Helix and senior co-author of the study. “What this study demonstrates is the potential impact of doing so. By making genetic screening available more broadly, we can help the millions of Americans who are unaware that they are living at increased risk for highly actionable, genetic conditions take action.”
Most notably, the study found that of the 273 participants who were carriers of the CDC Tier 1 genetic conditions and had clinical record information, only 22 individuals showed any previous suspicion of their underlying genetic conditions.
“For the first time, we are providing information at the individual level so study participants can make lifesaving changes to reduce their risk based on their genetics,” said Anthony Slonim, M.D., Dr.PH., FACHE, president and CEO of Renown Health and co-director of the Project® study. “We’re conducting research on the community level to develop leading-edge research on health determinants for entire neighborhoods, states and eventually, the country. Returning these results allows us to understand the prevalence of genetically programmed diseases and illnesses that we have here in Nevada and ensure we are providing the best prevention and care plans. For the individual, the return of results can be lifechanging.”
According to the CDC, early detection and intervention of Tier 1 genetic conditions could have a meaningful potential for clinical actionability and a positive impact on public health.
The Healthy Nevada Project®, which launched in 2016, offers free genetic testing to every Nevadan, aged 18 and older, interested in learning more about their health and genetic profile. With more than 50,000 study participants enrolled in four years, the Healthy Nevada Project® has become the fastest-enrolling genetic study in the world. For more about the Healthy Nevada Project® please visit healthynv.org
Renown Institute for Health Innovation is a collaboration between Renown Health – a locally governed and locally owned, not-for-profit integrated healthcare network serving Nevada, Lake Tahoe and northeast California; and the Desert Research Institute – a recognized world leader in investigating the effects of natural and humaninduced environmental change and advancing technologies aimed at assessing a changing planet. Renown IHI research teams are focused on integrating personal healthcare and environmental data with socioeconomic determinants to help Nevada address some of its most complex environmental health problems; while simultaneously expanding the state’s access to leading-edge clinical trials and fostering new connections with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Learn more at s.
Helix is the leading population genomics company operating at the intersection of clinical care, research, and genomics. Its end-to-end platform enables health systems, life sciences companies, and payers to advance genomic research and accelerate the integration of genomic data into clinical care. Powered by one of the world’s largest CLIA / CAP next-generation sequencing labs and its proprietary Exome+Ⓡ assay, Helix supports all aspects of population genomics including recruitment and engagement, clinically actionable disease screening, return of results, and basic and translational research. In response to the COVID-19 public health crisis, Helix has launched a sensitive and scalable end-to-end COVID-19 test system to meet the needs of health systems, employers, governments, and other organizations across the country. Learn more at www.helix.com.
Media Contacts: Justin Broglio, APR Communications Manager, Desert Research Institute (775) 762-8320 jbroglio@www-dev.dri.edu
Sarah Bobulsky Helix (415) 916-2740 sarah.bobulsky@helix.com
Cassie Harris Public Relations Business Partner, Renown Health (775) 691-7308 news@renown.org
Reno, Nev. (July 23, 2020) – Several members of the Native Waters on Arid Lands (NWAL) project team, led by Maureen McCarthy, Ph.D., of the Desert Research Institute (DRI) in Reno, have been awarded a $300k grant from the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) to develop a COVID-19 Rapid Response Toolkit for Tribal Extension Agents (COVID-19 Toolkit).
Tribal Extension Agents with the Federally-Recognized Tribes Extension Program (FRTEP) normally provide a lifeline of in-person, community-based services to tribal farmers, ranchers, and resource managers – but since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, they have been forced to transition to virtual delivery of critical services with no additional resources, training, or tools. The COVID-19 Toolkit project will support Tribal Extension Programs in Nevada and Arizona by developing a virtual platform for outreach and training materials needed by agents in the field, including webinars and short training videos.
In addition, FRTEP agents in the field will be equipped with ruggedized computer tablets that will allow them to access the virtual platform in advance and during one-on-one technical consultations and small social-distanced group meetings with tribal farmers and ranchers. A COVID-19 CARE Working Group will be established to share timely information and solve needs-based problems for tribal farmers and ranchers and assist reservation communities with food access to lessen the hardships of COVID-19 throughout Indian Country.
The project will run from August 2020 until July 2022, and will be led by McCarthy with support from Alexandra Lutz, Ph.D. (DRI), Kyle Bocinsky (Crow Canyon Archaeological Center), Trent Teegerstrom (Tribal Extension, University of Arizona), and Staci Emm (Tribal Extension, University of Nevada, Reno).
“With this funding, we will translate and share research produced as part of the NWAL project, and tailor it to respond to urgent needs identified by our Tribal partners,” McCarthy said. “Information delivered will be virtually-accessible and place-based and focused on addressing the challenges facing Indian farmers and ranchers during COVID-19 response and recovery. The COVID-19 Toolkit will provide geolocated environmental data, training videos, webinars, and other materials to FRTEP agents working under social distancing constraints and responding to a rapidly increasing demand for water and agricultural outreach support.”
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About the Desert Research Institute
The Desert Research Institute (DRI) is a recognized world leader in basic and applied interdisciplinary research. Committed to scientific excellence and integrity, DRI faculty, students, and staff have developed scientific knowledge and innovative technologies in research projects around the globe. Since 1959, DRI’s research has advanced scientific knowledge, supported Nevada’s diversifying economy, provided science-based educational opportunities, and informed policy makers, business leaders, and community members. With campuses in Reno and Las Vegas, DRI serves as the non-profit research arm of the Nevada System of Higher Education. For more information, please visit www.dri.edu.
About Native Waters on Arid Lands
The Native Waters on Arid Lands (NWAL; https://nativewaters-aridlands.com) project seeks to enhance the climate resiliency of agriculture on American Indian lands of the Great Basin and Southwest by building the capacity within tribal communities to develop and implement reservation-wide plans, policies, and practices to support sustainable agriculture and water management. Partners in the project include the Desert Research Institute; the University of Nevada, Reno; the University of Arizona; First Americans Land-Grant Consortium; Utah State University; Ohio University; United States Geological Survey; and the Federally Recognized Tribal Extension Program in Nevada and Arizona. This project is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
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 Antilles in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Credit: NASA Worldview.
In late June 2020, a phenomenon known as the Saharan dust plume made headlines in the U.S., as warm, dry winds from northern Africa carried an unusually thick layer of dust more than 5,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean into parts of the southeastern US, Puerto Rico, and Caribbean.
The arrival of this African dust cloud may have seemed unusual to residents of Florida and other Gulf-coast states, who experienced several days of darkened skies, degraded air quality and spectacular sunsets, but it came as no surprise to DRI Professor Emeritus Michael Kaplan, Ph.D., and Saroj Dhital, M.S., who have been working to understand the origins of Saharan dust plumes for some time.
Dhital, a graduate researcher with DRI’s Division of Atmospheric Sciences in Reno, joined DRI in 2016 as a member of Kaplan’s research group. He is originally from Nepal, and holds a master’s degree in Atmospheric Physics from Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu. In his doctoral work, Dhital is studying the weather patterns and processes that are responsible for large-scale Saharan dust storms that move north from Africa toward Europe and the Tropical Atlantic.
Saroj Dhital presents research on a 2017 dust case at the 2019 AGU Fall meeting.
Working in collaboration with Kaplan and researchers from Spain and Germany, Dhital has been actively involved in an effort to analyze case studies of extreme African dust plumes that impacted the Iberian Peninsula, in the southwest corner of Europe, during 2007, 2008, and 2016. In a new paper in the Journal Atmospheric Environment, Dhital and his colleagues examine the weather patterns and processes that occurred before each one of these major dust events.
“What we are trying to see in this research is what are the precursors before the formation of the dust system,” Dhital explained. “If we can see those types of features in the weather predictions, we could then possibly forecast that there will be a dust storm.”
The analyses of these case studies involve the observational datasets and high-resolution Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) simulations. Numerical simulations are performed inside the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) high-performance computer, “Cheyenne”.
“Because this area of the Earth is virtually uninhabited, there are almost no surface observations,” Dhital explained. “Remote sensing via satellites and numerical simulations employing a state-of-the-science computer model are our only way of diagnosing the physics of this phenomenon.”
The technology involves the NASA A-train satellite instruments and the supercomputer at NCAR, which can perform more than a trillion operations per second. Without both forms of powerful information processing technology, little would be understood about Sharan dust storms and their long-range transport of dust.
Above: WRF-Chem simulated dust transport video from a 2017 case study that shows the emission of dust over North Africa and subsequent transport towards the tropical Atlantic Ocean (Cape Verde Islands). Credit: Saroj Dhital.
Dhital and his team have recently submitted a second paper for publication on a case study of a 2017 Saharan dust outbreak over the Cape Verde Islands, which lie 650km off the coast of Senegal, West Africa, and is shown in the simulation above. This dust plume led to significant disruptions of local air traffic – disruptions that could have potentially been managed differently if we had the ability to forecast these dust storms or provide early warning to residents.
Additionally, the dust represents a major health hazard as it combines with other pollutants to create respiratory stress in people with lung and breathing problems. This could exacerbate the effect of the COVID-19 epidemic on vulnerable populations in Europe and elsewhere.
”Knowing more about the conditions that lead to dust storms is critically important for operational forecasting and in the development of an early warning system,” Dhital said. “Our research group is now analyzing finer scale meteorological details involved in 2007, 2008, and 2016 dust storm cases utilizing observational and high-resolution WRF-Chem simulations, and we look forward to sharing our findings.”
To learn more about the work of Kaplan, Dhital and their colleagues, read their new paper “Large scale upper-level precursors for dust storm formation over North Africa and poleward transport to the Iberian Peninsula. Part I: An observational analysis” in Atmospheric Environment: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1352231020304209?via%3Dihub
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 microplastic pollution is not just present in oceans, but also in mountains and lakes, including highly protected areas like Lake Tahoe.
Now, two DRI scientists aim to identify the source of these microfibers, with help from the League to Save Lake Tahoe’s citizen scientists and other volunteers from the Tahoe Basin. In a new study, volunteers from around the Tahoe region are installing specially made lint-catchers on the vents of their clothes dryers to assess whether dryers are releasing these tiny fibers into the environment.
“Several studies have been done on the washing process and how that can input microplastics into our waterways, but only a few studies have look at the drying process as a source of microplastics,” said Monica Arienzo, Ph.D., Assistant Research Professor of Hydrology at DRI. “That got us thinking about studying the drying process as a source of microplastics to the air.”
Working in collaboration with Meghan Collins, M.S., DRI’s Education Program Manager, the researchers developed a design for a lint-catcher that fits on the outside of a dryer vent. They then worked with the League to Save Lake Tahoe to create a plan for engaging citizen scientists in the study, tapping into the League’s network of dedicated Pipe Keepers and other volunteer groups.
Photo caption: (Above, left) Using a custom-made lint catcher, citizen scientist volunteers in the Tahoe Basin will help collect data for a new study on dryer lint. (Above, right) Closeup image of microfibers found in snow from Sierra Nevada. Fibers such as these are potentially emitted from the drying process. Credit: DRI.
Citizen scientists, including those who are brand new to volunteer data collection and research, can contribute to the study in one of two ways: 1) By sharing their drying habits with the researchers (how many loads they dry, dryer settings, and other details) for a month via the Citizen Science Tahoe app, or 2) By installing a lint catcher on the dryer vent on the outside of their home and sharing their drying habits.
The study will run from July 12 until August 7, at which time participants will mail back a custom-made fiberglass mesh net that sits inside the dryer vent cover, and researchers will analyze the contents.
“We will use all of this information to understand the connection between synthetic clothes, dryers, and microfiber emissions into the environment,” Collins said. “We are also hoping that our lint catcher design will provide an easy solution for helping individuals to reduce their ‘microplastic footprint’. We’re excited to see what citizen scientists think about this solution.”
While litter of all types poses a threat to the Lake Tahoe environment, plastic trash is consistently the most-gathered class of litter items at Keep Tahoe Blue beach and community cleanups. Plastic trash may breakdown to create microplastic pollution, which can end up in the Lake.
“Our hope is that this and future studies will narrow in on the sources of microplastic pollution at Tahoe,” noted Jesse Patterson, Chief Strategy Officer at the League to Save Lake Tahoe. “Combined with litter data gathered by Keep Tahoe Blue volunteers, we hope to convert the findings into solutions to the pollution problem facing our Lake. This is only possible through the partnership of research experts at DRI and passionate citizen scientists.”
The Desert Research Institute (DRI) is a recognized world leader in basic and applied interdisciplinary research. Committed to scientific excellence and integrity, DRI faculty, students, and staff have developed scientific knowledge and innovative technologies in research projects around the globe. Since 1959, DRI’s research has advanced scientific knowledge, supported Nevada’s diversifying economy, provided science-based educational opportunities, and informed policy makers, business leaders, and community members. With campuses in Reno and Las Vegas, DRI serves as the non-profit research arm of the Nevada System of Higher Education. For more information, please visit www.dri.edu.
Media Contact: Justin Broglio, Communications Manager
Desert Research Institute
775.762.8320 justin.broglio@www-dev.dri.edu
About the League to Save Lake Tahoe
The League to Save Lake Tahoe, also known by the slogan “Keep Tahoe Blue,” is Tahoe’s oldest and largest nonprofit environmental advocacy organization. The League is dedicated to community engagement and education, and collaborating to find solutions to Tahoe’s environmental challenges. Through the League’s main campaigns, its expert staff and dedicated volunteers A.C.T. to Keep Tahoe Blue: we Advance restoration, Combat pollution and Tackle invasive species. Learn more at keeptahoeblue.org.
Media Contact: Chris Joseph, Communications Manager League to Save Lake Tahoe 805.722.5646 cjoseph@keeptahoeblue.org
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 National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) to develop a STEM curriculum with Diné (Navajo) and Hopi communities.
With this funding, Collins, Karletta Chief, Ph.D. (University of Arizona), Kyle Bocinsky, Ph.D. (DRI/Crow Canyon Archaeological Center), and several other members of the NWAL team will work with teachers serving Indigenous communities to develop and adapt STEM curriculum to place-based contexts. The project, called “Teaching Native Waters,” will host in-depth, yearlong professional development experiences to 20 middle and high school teachers serving Indigenous students in the Diné (Navajo) and Hopi Nations.
“This project builds on opportunities that we identified during the course of the Native Waters on Arid Lands project, where teachers wanted ways to bring STEM curriculum into their classrooms for the benefit of young and future generations,” said Collins. “We are thrilled to be able to continue this important work with new funding from USDA-NIFA, and help make science from the NWAL project actionable in K-12 classrooms.”
The long-term goal of “Teaching Native Waters” is to include more Native American students in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. This project will help to address issues of diversity in STEM and important gaps in professional development for teachers serving rural students.
This grant was one of four awards given out through USDA-NIFA’s Women and Minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Fields program (WAMS). WAMS supports research, education/teaching, and extension projects to increase participation by women and underrepresented minorities from rural areas in science technology engineering and math.
This project is expected to begin in August 2020 and run through July 2022. Additional DRI researchers that will be working on the Teaching Native Waters project include NWAL Program Director Maureen McCarthy, Ph.D., and NWAL water quality lead Alexandra Lutz, Ph.D.
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 WaterStart program is spinning out of the Desert Research Institute (DRI) into a successful company that has already addressed $30 million in water technology challenges based in Nevada.
“The WaterStart spin out of DRI represents yet another success story of the Knowledge Fund,” said Michael Brown, GOED executive director. “GOED is looking forward to continuing to work with WaterStart providing technology solutions for Nevada’s water resource-based challenges as well as growing the water-tech sector in our state thereby creating high paying employment opportunities for Nevadans.”
With a growing membership, proven model, and diversified funding, WaterStart is ready to write its next chapter and operate as an independent entity. WaterStart was founded as a non-profit in 2013 in response to the impacts of the Great Recession and 20 years of continuous drought in Nevada. The public-private partnership was housed within DRI and funded by GOED. Dedicated to deploying new water technologies and making Nevada a hub for water innovation, WaterStart membership and sponsors are made up of the State’s largest water agencies, consumers and philanthropies including; the Southern Nevada Water Authority, Truckee Meadows Water Authority, MGM Resorts and NV Gold, the Wells Fargo Foundation and OneDrop.
“The WaterStart model has enabled DRI to build on our global leadership in water research to better understand the needs of the water industry and develop relationships with the private sector,” said Kumud Acharya, Interim President of DRI.
Funding to create WaterStart as well as continuous financial support since 2013 has come from the Knowledge Fund, which was established to foster the development of intellectual property and commercialization of new technologies at Nevada’s three research institutions in an effort to diversify and strengthen the state’s economy. Part of the Knowledge Fund’s mandate is to build research capacity for the development of technologies that can be commercialized as well as setting up centers to engage in research and development collaborations with the private sector.
Today, WaterStart’s membership has expanded into Australia and the United Kingdom. In May, WaterStart welcomed the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California as its newest member. Delivering water to a six-county service area with nearly 19 million people, Metropolitan is now WaterStart’s largest member and its first in California.
“The recent growth of our membership into Australia, the United Kingdom and now California speaks volumes about how far we’ve come and the impact we can make,” said Nathan Allen, WaterStart’s executive director. “We’re grateful for the support we’ve received from the Knowledge Fund and DRI. Our Nevada community has given us a solid foundation to scale-up and pursue our vision of deploying technologies that benefit 100 million people.”
WaterStart and its members will continue to address and solve challenges at the nexus of the economy and water. Based in Nevada, WaterStart will expand its positive impact in the State as it drives job creation, conservation, and water security by bringing in cutting edge, innovative companies to solve water issues in the driest state in the Union.
“This is an exciting time for WaterStart and its members,” said Dave Johnson, Chairman of the Board for WaterStart. “After years of hard work, the organization is ready to step out on its own. This change will allow WaterStart to broaden its impact as it works with members and partners around the world to solve our most pressing water technology needs.”
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About the Governor’s Office of Economic Development
Created during the 2011 session of the Nevada Legislature, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development is the result of a collaborative effort between the Nevada Legislature and the Governor’s Office to restructure economic development in the state. GOED’s role is to promote a robust, diversified and prosperous economy in Nevada, to stimulate business expansion and retention, encourage entrepreneurial enterprise, attract new businesses and facilitate community development. More information on the Governor’s Office of Economic Development can be viewed at goed.nv.gov
About the Desert Research Institute
The Desert Research Institute (DRI) is a recognized world leader in basic and applied interdisciplinary research. Committed to scientific excellence and integrity, DRI faculty, students, and staff have developed scientific knowledge and innovative technologies in research projects around the globe. Since 1959, DRI’s research has advanced scientific knowledge, supported Nevada’s diversifying economy, provided science-based educational opportunities, and informed policymakers, business leaders, and community members. With campuses in Reno and Las Vegas, DRI serves as the non-profit research arm of the Nevada System of Higher Education. For more information, visit www.dri.edu.
About WaterStart
WaterStart is a non-profit collective of globally recognized leaders who are adapting to change by scaling up new solutions to water challenges. Driven by the needs of water agencies and large consumers, we provide a channel for pooling resources to accelerate the development and adoption of innovative water technologies. Established in 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada, WaterStart’s globally recognized members, sponsors, and portfolio companies come from across the United States, expanding into Queensland, Australia in 2018 and into the United Kingdom in 2020. For more information, visit www.waterstart.com.
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 risk. Watts, an associate research professor in fire ecology at DRI, will contribute expertise in fire surveying and data collection using unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Working alongside researchers from UCLA, University at Buffalo, National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder (NCAR), and the University of Nevada, Reno, Watts will help the project team to create a live digital platform that quantifies the risk of wildfires to wildland-urban interface communities in terms of probability of loss. The tool will be used by wildfire managers, emergency responders, and utility companies help them make informed decisions and take preventive actions in order to scientifically reduce the risk of fires.
“Our lives should not be sacrificed this easily”: Camp Fire tragedy leads to new wildfire research
On November 8, 2018, the deadliest wildfire in California’s history ignited in Butte County outside the city of Paradise. When it was declared contained 17 days later, the Camp Fire had burned more than 150,000 acres, destroyed 18,000 buildings and taken 86 lives.
Like many, Hamed Ebrahimian, assistant professor in the College of Engineering, was moved by this tragedy. And when he discovered the fire was part of a growing trend of wildfire danger—for the last twenty years, on average, seven million acres of U.S. land have burned in wildfires annually—he got to work.
Harnessing his expertise in computational modeling in civil engineering, Ebrahimian began pursuing a better way to understand fire risk. He assembled a multi-institutional group of researchers with a similar desire to use science and technology to reduce the chances that the world would suffer from another wildfire of the magnitude of the Camp Fire. Now, with the help of a 5-year, $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s LEAP-HI program, Ebrahimian is ready to realize his vision.
“Some of the most tragic fatalities in the Camp Fire were due to unpredicted fire behavior, which surprised the victims and eliminated the proper reaction time. I told myself that we are in a digital and technology era and our lives should not be sacrificed this easily,” Ebrahimian said. “Two years later, I am grateful to be part of a solid team and to have received the support to execute this vision.”
The vision: A computational platform for multi-level wildfire risk assessment
Researchers at the Desert Research Institute (DRI), UCLA, University at Buffalo, National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder (NCAR), and the University of Nevada, Reno Colleges of Science and Business are gathered together under the leadership of the University’s College of Engineering to redefine wildfire risk monitoring and management through the development of a new computational platform. The platform is intended for use by wildfire managers, emergency responders and utility companies to plan for, respond to, and mitigate the risk of wildfires.
“This is an interdisciplinary intervention with a diverse team to blend different thinking modalities and to build a digital platform that can be used to monitor the risk of wildfire on a spectrum of spatial resolution and time,” Ebrahimian said. “Once developed, the computational platform will increase the efficiency of the wildfire management process by providing timely actionable information to decision-makers.”
The research project envisions an eventual live digital platform that evolves with new data and dynamically updates the long-term (seasons/months ahead) to short-term (weeks/days ahead) pre-ignition fire risks at regional and community scales for risk management, and the post-ignition fire behavior at near-real-time (hours-days) for situational awareness.
Ebrahimian explained, “Our objective is to develop a systematic framework to quantify the risk of wildfires to wildland-urban-interface communities in terms of the total probability of loss. Loss is defined as a combination of monetary damage and the change in the quality of life of people. The risk, thus, depends, on one hand, on the characteristics of the community, its structure, and location and, on the other hand, on the wildland and the factors affecting the fire ignition and spread, such as topography, climate conditions, fuel type and moisture. Now, we want to have the capability to combine all these factors and predict the seasons-month ahead to weeks-days-ahead risk for different communities and regions.”
This goal will be accomplished by creating and integrating transdisciplinary scientific knowledge and techniques in the fields of data harnessing (collection, processing, fusion, and uncertainty quantification), computational modeling (wild- and urban-fire initiation and spread, as well as social quality-of-life models), stochastic simulation, and model-based inference.
“This is a complex undertaking and requires the integration of various sources of data with a hierarchy of data-driven and physics-based models,” Ebrahimian continued. “The core idea is inspired by the many years of research advancement in the field of earthquake risk assessment and disaster resilience. Once developed and validated, the framework will be crucial to help make informed decisions and take preventive actions in order to scientifically reduce the risk of fires, and therefore, their effects on our communities and people. This can help reduce the risk of fires but the risk can never be eliminated. Therefore, another component of our computational platform is focused on predicting how active fires will behave and propagate. This will be instrumental to help the ground-zero firefighting activities.”
“A global concern”: collaboration through the NSF LEAP-HI program
Designed to challenge the engineering research community to take a leadership role in addressing demanding, urgent and consequential issues facing our nation, the Leading Engineering for America’s Prosperity, Health, and Infrastructure (LEAP-HI) program supports research that requires “sustained and coordinated effort from interdisciplinary research teams.” As such, LEAP-HI grants are complex, cross-disciplinary, and highly competitive—only a few projects are granted in each annual cycle. For Ebrahimian’s project, key contributions will come from engineers and scientists from institutions across the nation.
UCLA
Ertugrul Taciroglu
Ertugrul Taciroglu, professor and chair of the civil and environmental engineering department at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, will lead the development of advanced tools that will make use of computer vision and machine-learning techniques to extract terrain and fuel characteristics from satellite and drone data. He will also work on the development of the Bayesian model updating techniques that will assimilate live-data from an ongoing fire into a high-fidelity wildfire forward simulation code.
“This approach is expected to enable direct utilization of event data for physics-based, near-real-time predictions of fire propagation,” Taciroglu said. “Better characterization wildfire propagation will help improved understanding of loss risks as well as pre-emptive mitigation methodologies.”
Taciroglu’s current research focuses on combining physics-based and data-driven models using a variety of techniques ranging from the more-conventional Bayesian updating and particle-filtering approaches to machine learning. His research group is also developing various tools for extracting metadata from images and point clouds to be used for defining computational domains in a variety of applications ranging from earthquake engineering to wildfire modeling.
University at Buffalo
Negar Elhami-Khorasani (photo courtesy of The Onion Studio)
Negar Elhami-Khorasani, assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering at the University at Buffalo (UB), will develop a data-driven urban fire spread model to evaluate risk of wildfire in wildland urban interface communities (WIC). She will study temporal and spatial spread of fire in WIC, considering uncertainties in urban fuel, landscape, vegetation, and environmental factors. She will work with the rest of the team to establish a continuous fire risk assessment framework moving from the wildland into the urban interface. She will also collaborate with the University of Nevada, Reno to translate total burned area in a community to economic losses and its effects on community residents’ perception of life.
“. . . [F]ires are projected to become more frequent and intense. The economic and social impacts of wildfires . . . represent a global concern.”
“Wildfires have always been part of the natural landscape for a healthy ecosystem, yet these fires are projected to become more frequent and intense,” Elhami-Khorasani said. “The economic and social impacts of wildfires have risen in recent years, and now represent a global concern.”
National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder (NCAR)
“The goal is to develop a unique system for detailed assessments of wildland fire risk, alerting residents and firefighters days to weeks in advance of the potential for a major fire,” Kosovic said. “Such predictions can be vital for reducing the likelihood of a major fire and enabling fire crews to respond more rapidly in the event of a blaze igniting.”
An expert on wildfire prediction, Kosovic has led the NCAR team that is developing an advanced weather–wildland fire behavior model for the Colorado Wildfire Prediction System. He also oversaw the development of a data product of daily dead and live fuel moisture across the contiguous United States, which combines satellite and surface observations using a machine learning model. Kosovic is the Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Wildfire Weather, Technology and Risk of the American Meteorological Society.
Desert Research Institute (DRI)
Adam Watts
From the Desert Research Institute (DRI), Adam Watts, associate research professor in fire ecology, will contribute his expertise in fire surveying and data collection using unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
“Collecting refined data though aerial surveillance is an important undertaking that will inform the properties of fuel on the ground for pre-ignition fire risk assessment,” said Watts. “We, moreover, have significant experience in flying instrumented UAS on active fires to collected near-real-time data that will be used for fire propagation and behavior predictions.”
Watts is UAS Lead for the Fire and Smoke Model Evaluation Experiment (FASMEE) project, and a certified Wildland Fire Ecologist and Wildland Fire Practitioner. These skills and connections will provide prescribed-fire observation opportunities, leveraged data resources, and valuable external collaborations as well as extension capabilities via DRI’s Science Alive programs. Watts also directs the Airborne Systems Testing and Environmental Research Laboratory, where expertise in UAS payload development and deployment over wildland fires will be used to support relevant project tasks.
The Colleges of Business, Science and Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno
Amir Talaei-Khoei
In the College of Business, Amir Talaei-Khoei, associate professor, will extend the engineering approach of the team to a humanistic perspective. His main goal is to understand the underlying effects of wildfire on the quality of people’s lives, including their perception about their individual and social viabilities. Amir is looking into closing the loop by not only investigating physical damages caused by wildfires, but also exploring the changes in people’s quality of life. In this study, the quality of life assessment instruments will be employed for the first time to take a social and humanistic approach in understanding wildfire impacts. This perspective is the first of its kind.
Talaei-Khoei has previously taken a similar approach utilizing quality of life assessment instruments to understand the effect of aging in people’s individual and social enthusiasms. Amir’s experience in leading a global multi-institutional initiative for Improving Elderly’s Quality of Life will provide an infrastructure in which the impact of wildfire will be assessed. The Department of Information Systems at the College of Business in the University of Nevada, Reno has a group of experts in this area and will provide a collaborative environment that will support Talaei-Khoei’s work in wildfire.
Neil Lareau
Neil Lareau, assistant professor in the Atmospheric Sciences program of the Department of Physics, will lead the effort to collect real-time data on wildfire plumes and fire progression using state-of-the-science scanning lidars and radars. These scanning remote sensors can see into the dense ash surrounding a fire, thereby enabling researchers to probe fire evolution by measuring fire-generated winds, plume dynamics, and changes in the fire perimeter. These real-time data will be fed into the modeling components of the study to constrain, and ultimately improve, the model predictions of fire progression.
Hamed Ebrahimian
The research of Hamed Ebrahimian, assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is mainly focused on integrating physics-based models with data for data assimilation, estimation, identification, model updating, and uncertainty quantifications. As the project PI, he will oversee the development of various project pieces and their integration into a unified whole. He will also contribute his research expertise to develop a stochastic simulation framework for probabilistic wildfire risk assessment. Further, he will integrate measurement data with computational fire models to improve fire behavior prediction capabilities.
Community Engagement
This research and the technological outcomes of the project will not have an impact without the contribution and guidelines of the community partners, including researchers, field experts, practitioners and fire management authorities. Therefore, an active outreach effort is embedded in the research execution plan.
“We are looking forward to work with the broader fire community to exchange knowledge and tune the research outcomes toward addressing the existing pain points and technical gaps. Our objective is to have a practical, adoptable, and useful technology framework, and for this, we welcome any collaborative efforts,” said Ebrahimian.
For Ebrahimian and the rest of the researchers, the education of academic scholars and motivating K-12 students is essential. A sustainable technology development effort necessitates a comprehensive educational component, which trains the future workforce to continue carrying the torch. The project will involve eight graduate students and one post-doctoral scholar in a convergence research environment, training the next generation of transdisciplinary experts and researchers on wildfire hazards. A new joint educational curriculum between the civil engineering and physics departments at the University of Nevada, Reno, is planned to train the future workforce in wildfire engineering. Finally, the project includes an educational outreach program that will target local schools through University K-12 outreach programs. This effort will yield lesson modules on wildfires, which will highlight the important roles of STEM research in developing novel solutions to emerging problems.
“This project exemplifies the engineering spirit. Through collaboration, it provides multiple lenses for understanding a pressing problem not only in the United States but around the world. It advances our common goal of protecting lives and increasing prosperity. Because it integrates essential educational components, it further ensures that the next generation will build on its successes,” University of Nevada, Reno College of Engineering Dean Manos Maragakis said. “We are proud of Hamed and his exceptional collaborators, and we are grateful for their contributions to our global community.”
Like the LEAP-HI wildfire project itself, this article represents a collaborative effort from Christine Lee (UCLA), Peter Murphy (UB), David Hosansky (NCAR), Justin Broglio (DRI), Allie Crichton (College of Business), Jennifer Kent (College of Science), Mike Wolterbeek (Marketing and Communications) and each member of the research team.
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