New Research Site in Tahoe's Future: A Collaboration of DRI, SNC, and RAND

DRI President Stephen G. Wells and Sierra Nevada College (SNC) President James L. Ash, Jr., announced recently that DRI, SNC, and RAND, the world's most famous think tank, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop a Tahoe Basin Environmental Science and Policy Center located on the Incline Village, Nevada, campus of SNC.

Wells said the new center's focus is developing a unique teaching and research program, and facilitating research efforts by the three organizations, as well as other groups researching Lake Tahoe.

President Ash said SNC's environmental science program will benefit greatly from the new center and place the program at the leading edge of environmental science undergraduate education. "This collaboration will be a great new day for bringing together environmental science and public policy in the Tahoe Basin. We are delighted to be the host site for this new center at our lake campus."

Wells said the program will demonstrate how the environment can be improved when scientific researchers and public policy agencies cooperate to advance the state of knowledge and education about the Lake Tahoe Basin.
"The center should greatly boost the efforts already under way by researchers and educators. Most important, we hope the center will create a strong link between the environmental research efforts in the Tahoe Basin and the development and implementation of policy to preserve the area's ecological health," said Wells.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decision-making through research and analysis. RAND has a long-established research program in California issues and has recently expanded its environmental and energy agenda.