Alan Gertler: Dandini Medal of Science

Dr. Alan Gertler Receives DRI's 2000 Dandini Medal of Science

A Desert Research Institute scientist who has worked on air pollution problems from Lake Tahoe to the Egyptian pyramids has been awarded DRI's Alessandro Dandini Medal of Science. The Dandini Medal is the Institute's highest annual recognition for scientific accomplishment by a member of its research faculty.

Left to right: DRI President Dr. Stephen Wells, Dr. Alan Gertler, and Countess Angela Dandini.

Gertler, an atmospheric chemist with DRI since 1979, has focused his research on the environmental impacts of vehicle emissions in actual traffic conditions, on the chemical changes pollutants undergo in the atmosphere, and on atmospheric acid deposition across the North American continent as well as in specific environments such as the Sierra Nevada Range. He is currently examining the contribution of airborne pollutants to the declining clarity of Lake Tahoe.

In addition to his success in attracting millions of dollars in research funding to DRI, Gertler has been director of the atmospheric sciences graduate program at the University of Nevada, Reno for the past five years. He was recently selected for the 2001 Hope for the Future for a Sustainable World Award, presented every three years by the International Union of Air Pollution Prevention and Environmental Protection Associations (IUAPPA) and the International Academy of Sciences. He will formally accept the award in August in Seoul, Korea.

Dr. Gertler received a minted medallion and $1,000 prize from Countess Angela Dandini, the award's sponsor and widow of the medal's namesake, in formal ceremonies at DRI on November 17. The late Dandini was an inventor, engineer, scientist, educator, and visionary who established what is now the Dandini Research Park in Reno, home to the northern Nevada campus of DRI and Truckee Meadows Community College.

Based on innovative sampling and new analytical methods and technology, Gertler's work established that major discrepancies existed between predicted motor vehicle emission levels and those observed in actual, on-road performance. These findings are being applied to fuel and engine performance technologies, street and highway design, and a reevaluation of vehicle pollution reduction strategies employed by local and national regulators.

Gertler has presented invited lectures across the United States, in Europe, and in the Middle East, has been involved in the publication of 30 peer-reviewed journal articles, and has presented 110 papers at national and international conferences.