DRI is pleased to announce that the 26th annual Peter B. Wagner Memorial Award for Women in Atmospheric Sciences has been awarded to Catherine (Casey) Ivanovich of Columbia University. The Peter B. Wagner Memorial Award for Women in Atmospheric Sciences is an annual competition recognizing the published works of women pursuing a master’s or Ph.D. in the atmospheric sciences.
David Almanza, Ph.D., joined DRI this summer as a postdoctoral researcher in urban climate adaptation. He is working with Ariel Choinard in the Southern Nevada Heat Resilience Lab to examine how heat is impacting communities in and around Las Vegas. Born in Bogota, Colombia, Almanza grew up in Las Vegas and completed his Ph.D. at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in 2023. In this interview, Almanza discusses his social science training, what it means to center research on your own community, and his love for Las Vegas eateries.
A few miles south of Yosemite’s famed Glacier Point, ringed by striking granite domes, lies the Illilouette Basin. This small stretch of the Sierra Nevada Mountains has become a sort of fire laboratory, a place where natural wildfires have been allowed to burn since 1972. In contrast with the long-supported program of fire suppression that has dominated American forests since the late 19th century, resulting in dense and unhealthy forests, the Illilouette Basin’s story is about the benefits that natural fire can bring to the landscape.
The Desert Research Institute’s Native Climate education team, Ileah Kirchoff and Crystal Miller, hosted a collaborative workshop between the Walker River Paiute Tribe and the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe on May 4, 2024. The session focused on Indigenous curriculum development and the incorporation of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), particularly in lessons about the climate crisis.
Juan Henao, Ph.D., is a new postdoc in atmospheric sciences working with John Mejia, Ph.D. Originally from Medellin, Colombia, he spent six months on DRI’s Reno campus in 2018 while working with Mejia during his doctoral studies. His primary project will be contributing to atmospheric and air quality modeling efforts, including using digital twins to investigate the effectiveness of urban heat mitigation measures.
On Friday, April 26th, 16 graduate students presented their research at DRI’s Reno campus for the annual poster presentation session. Organized by Kathleen Rodrigues, PhD, assistant research professor of luminescence, the poster session offers an opportunity for DRI-affiliated graduate students to network with each other and with DRI faculty, hone their presentation skills, and showcase the research they’re working on in pursuit of their degrees.
In 2021, DRI researchers partnered with the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) to address the gap in air quality monitoring. Led by Kristin VanderMolen, Ph.D., assistant research professor of atmospheric science, a new study details how the research team designed custom air quality sensors and information materials for rural Nevada counties.
A conversation with Guo Yu and Jeremy Giovando about their new research examining post-fire flood frequency. The study expands on previous frameworks to account for the compounding impacts of repeated wildfires on flood risk, using a southern California watershed as a case study.
Beatrice, who also goes by “Bea,” is an interdisciplinary hydrologist with a deeply embedded concern for water availability born from her childhood on a Wyoming ranch. She is focused on working with communities in rural Nevada to understand their needs for effective climate adaptation.
Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Board of Regents awards Xiaoliang Wang, Ph.D., with the 2024 Mid-Career Researcher Award and Gabrielle Boisramé, Ph.D., with the Rising Researcher Award