Desert Research Institute & Research Park news

A study by DRI scientists in the Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences that was a cover story in the journal Nature has been chosen by the online research service Faculty of 1000 Biology as one of the most interesting papers published in 2008.

Faculty of 1000 Biology highlights and evaluates papers published in the biological sciences based on the recommendations of more than 2,300 researchers.

The study, Nature’s cover story for the September 18, 2008 issue, was authored by J

The Technology Transfer Office (TTO) that serves both DRI and the University of Nevada, Reno, is bridging the gap between research and reality by bringing together early-stage technology and marketplace opportunities while generating income for both institutions.

The TTO’s primary goals are to commercialize DRI- and university-developed technologies and to stimulate economic development and diversification in Nevada. An objective of the TTO is to negotiate licenses from which the univer

Plants and soils act like sponges for atmospheric carbon dioxide, but new research finds that one abnormally warm year can suppress the amount of carbon dioxide taken up by some grassland ecosystems for up to two years. The findings, which followed an unprecedented four-year study of sealed, 12-ton containerized grassland plots at DRI is the cover story in the September 18 issue of the journal Nature. `This is the first study to quantitatively track the response in carbon dioxide uptake and

The US Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) today awarded DRI and NCET, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, its Performance Awards for excellence in economic development grant performance.

Both DRI and NCET have received previous awards from the EDA, which announced that DRI will receive an additional $5,700, while NCET will get $20,000 more. The original EDA grants in 2006 were facilitated by Nevada Senator Harry Reid when DRI received $57,0

New research, reported this week in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that coal burning, primarily in North America and Europe, contaminated the Arctic and potentially affected human health and ecosystems in and around Earth`s polar regions.

The study, titled `Coal Burning Leaves Toxic Heavy Metal Legacy in the Arctic,` was conducted by the Desert Research Institute (DRI), Reno, Nev. and partially funded by the National Science Foundati

Alison Murray, scientist at the Desert Research Institute, is going where few scientists have gone during the winter, to Antarctica to find clues about how microbes survive and even thrive during the coldest time of the year.

The Western Antarctic Peninsula is experiencing one of the most rapid rates of climate warming on Earth, with an increase of about 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit) in the mean annual temperature over the last 50 years—significantly faster than the rest