Frederick Lander Scholarships

DRI has awarded two General Frederick Lander Scholarships for Native Americans. Recipients were Rozena Brecke, a student at the University of Nevada, Reno and Denesha Alexander of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Each scholarship consists of an award of $2,500 and is administered by DRI's Quaternary Sciences Center. The scholarships were established in memory of General Frederick Lander, a hero of the American Civil War and namesake of Lander County, Nevada, through an endowment from the estate of Lander's niece, Anna Lander McDonnell.

WRC Scientist Elected to Executive Committee of American Society of Civil Engineers

Dr. Richard H. French, research professor in DRI's Water Resources Center, has been elected to the five-member Water Resources Engineering Division Executive Committee (EXCOM) of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). During his term, French's responsibilities will include overseeing seven funded national committees, several funded task committees, and a number of nonfunded subcommittees.

French's election to EXCOM reflects his outstanding contributions to the investigation of hydraulic processes on alluvial fans and open channel hydraulics. His books on these subjects are used as standard texts around the country and the world. French received ASCE's Arid Lands Hydraulic Engineering Award in 1991 and DRI's Dandini Medal of Science in 1996.

QSC Director Receives Kirk Bryan Award

A study of the role of forest fires, climate, and geologic processes in altering the landscape of Yellowstone National Park has won Dr. Stephen G. Wells, executive director of DRI's Quaternary Sciences Center, a share of the prestigious Kirk Bryan Award from the Geological Society of America (GSA). Wells and his co-authors accepted the award at the GSA Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City in October, 1997.

Wells, with lead author Grant Meyer of Middlebury College and co-author A.J. Timothy Jull of the University of Arizona, published Fire and alluvial chronology in Yellowstone National Park: Climatic and intrinsic controls on Holocene geomorphic process in the GSA Bulletin. The 1995 paper examined the significance of both recent and ancient fires compared to geology and climate in the evolution of the popular park. Wells, a geomorphologist, studies how landscapes change in relation to climate, volcanic, and earthquake activity as well as human-induced forces such as forest fires and accelerated erosion.

Dr. Melanie Wetzel Named DRI's 1998 Woman of Achievement

Dr. Melanie A. Wetzel, an associate research professor in DRI's Atmospheric Sciences Center, returned from a four-month appointment as a senior visiting scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to learn that she had been named DRI's 1998 Woman of Achievement.

In nominating Wetzel for the award, Dr. Peter Barber, executive director of DRI's Atmospheric Sciences Center, noted that Wetzel has "consistently worked to develop new ideas through her leadership activities, benefitting both her research and service contributions to DRI. She has a strong commitment to promoting interdisciplinary applications of research in her field of expertise."

Wetzel received the award based on her contribution to the atmospheric sciences through research focused on satellite remote sensing and radiative transfer, her efforts to enhance educational training, as well as other local, national, and international activities.

Wetzel has been principal investigator or co-principal investigator on grants to DRI exceeding $1.3 million in support, including funding from NOAA, the Department of Energy, and the National Science Foundation. Her work is frequently collaborative; and she has conducted projects with Western Nevada Community College, Colorado State University, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Her educational contributions to the Atmospheric Sciences teaching program at the University of Nevada, Reno include development of an interdisciplinary course on remote sensing for climate monitoring and establishment of computer facilities for meteorological data analysis. Other activities related to instructional development range from the design of computer-based training software on atmospheric instrumentation for community colleges to leading summer workshops on satellite remote sensing for university faculty.

Wetzel has encouraged and directly supported women undergraduate and graduate students as well as community college and high school faculty to promote their interest and training in the atmospheric sciences. She is also a member of two national associations dedicated to the advancement of women in the scientific and educational professions, the American Association for University Women and the Association for Women in Science.

Dr. Judith Chow Receives Dandini Medal of Science

Dr. Judith Chow, an international expert in air quality measurement and analysis in DRI's Energy and Environmental Engineering Center, was awarded the 1997 Alessandro Dandini Medal of Science. This annual award recognizes the highest scientific achievement by a DRI faculty member. Chow received the medal, including a $1,000 prize and a $5,000 contribution to the DRI faculty endowment, from Countess Angela Dandini, widow of the award's namesake who was a scientist and former DRI presidential assistant.

Chow is involved in several major national and international air quality projects and is an acknowledged leader in the scientific community's ongoing effort to characterize the smallest and most health-threatening airborne particles. She recently coordinated the air quality field's most advanced technical conference focusing on the difficult challenges of accurately collecting and describing very small airborne particles as mandated by new federal standards.

The federal government recently established more stringent air quality standards to control inhalable particles that measure 2.5 microns in diameter (about one-twentieth the size of a human hair) or less. The new PM_2.5 standard regulates particles only a quarter the size of those controlled previously. The chemical volatility and instability of these tiny particles is pushing the scientific community to improve the state of the art for both measurement and analytical methods. Dr. Chow is in the forefront of this research.

Chow has published more than one hundred peer-reviewed scientific articles and received national and international scientific honors for her research accomplishments. Her air quality modeling work has been applied to pollutant reductions in Reno, Las Vegas, and several major California regions.

The Dandini Medal was established by Countess Dandini in 1992 after the prototype medal design and the concept for the DRI faculty award were found among Count Dandini's papers following his death.

In addition to acquiring the DRI Research Park in Reno, which now bears his name, Count Dandini conducted an extensive research program, taught at the University of Nevada, Reno, and served as the university's ceremonial marshall. He obtained numerous patents for his inventions and, at one time, owned and operated an innovative brick foundry.

DRI's Dr. Kendrick Taylor Named Mackay Alum of the Year at UNR

DRI scientist Kendrick C. Taylor, Jr., a 1987 Ph.D. recipient from the University of Nevada, Reno's Mackay School of Mines, has been honored as the school's 1997 alumnus of the year. Taylor's discovery several years ago of erratic reversals of climate conditions--behavior he likened to a "flickering light switch"--startled the scientific community at large and now has brought him important peer recognition close to home.

Taylor began his investigation of climate by studying data trapped in nearly two miles of ice cores extracted from Greenland's ice sheet. His analysis of these cores produced the "flickering switch" discovery that changed the way scientists look at the nature of climate variation. He is now the chief scientist on an ice core drilling project in Antarctica that will compare the southern hemisphere's climate record with the Greenland data.

Taylor's accomplishments have brought him major coverage in top scientific journals as well as features in Time and on the front page of the Los Angeles Times.

DRI and UNR are sister institutions within the University and Community College System of Nevada. Taylor, a geophysicist, is an associate research professor in DRI's Water Resources Center.

Elizabeth Stout and Countess Angela Dandini Receive DRI's Presidents Medal

Elizabeth "Betty" Stout and Countess Angela Dandini have been awarded DRI's Presidents Medal. The Presidents Medal recognizes those who have significantly furthered the Institute's mission and goals by contributing their time, financial support, or expertise.

In recognizing Stout's contribution, President James V. Taranik noted her long-standing financial support of DRI as well as her participation in a number of DRI research projects. Stout's interest in paleontology led her to help DRI initiate a study in the Black Rock Desert in which she participated in the excavation of fossilized mammoth skeletons. She also established the George Burke Maxey Fellowship for graduate students in hydrology/hydrogeology in memory of her late friend George Burke Maxey, the former director of DRI's Water Resources Center.

In presenting the Medal to Countess Dandini, President Taranik highlighted her establishment of the Count Alessandro Dandini Medal of Science, the Institute's highest faculty research honor. He also noted that the Countess introduced the idea of a formal garden--now the Countess Angela Dandini Garden--between DRI and the Institute's neighbor, Truckee Meadows Community College. This garden is enjoyed by faculty and staff at both institutions as well as northern Nevada residents at large. Both Stout and Dandini served two terms on the DRI Research Foundation and were honored by being named emeritus trustees two years ago.

DRI Speakers Bureau

If you live in northern or southern Nevada and your group is looking for an interesting speaker, contact the DRI Speakers Bureau program. Just call John Gardner in Las Vegas (702-895-0408) or Tonya Drake in Reno (702-674-7555).