A Global Focus on Science Education

Each year DRI employs some 50 graduate students from the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and, while some of these researchers-in-training are the boy or girl next door, others have come a long way for DRI's special brand of education and employment.

Dorothea Ivanova is a native of Bulgaria and a Ph.D. candidate in atmospheric sciences under the tutelage of DRI's Dr. David Mitchell. She had already earned master's degrees in physics and environmental sciences overseas and first came to the U.S. as a visiting scientist with the University of Maryland/NASA Goddard Flight Center. There, her colleagues impressed upon her the importance of getting a Ph.D. After one such conversation she opened a periodical to find an advertisement for DRI and UNR's Atmospheric Sciences Graduate Program. The next day, in a different publication, she found herself staring at the same ad. "There it was, back to back, so I applied," recalls Ivanova. "It was really by chance that I found DRI."

But if chance brought Ivanova here, hard work and intelligence have made her successful, and she was recently awarded the Colin Warden Memorial Award for the best research paper submitted by a student on a subject related to identification and/or resolution of an environmental problem. With Mitchell, she is working on improving the computer models that simulate global climate by better estimating the radiative effects of ice crystals in clouds. She is also studying the sequence of events that produce the Mexican monsoon, a summer weather pattern that delivers much of the sparse precipitation of southwest North America, but can also trigger flash floods.

Marija Grabasnjak hails from Zagreb, Croatia, and is working toward a master's degree in hydrology with DRI's Dr. David Benson. She is also the recipient of DRI's annual Maxey Fellowship in hydrology. In Croatia, Grabasnjak earned her master's degree in civil engineering, which, she says, indirectly led to her current work at DRI looking at the way contaminants spread in groundwater. "I think because I had a strong background in math, Dr. Benson wanted me for this work. It relies on a lot of heavy mathematical computation."

A key goal of her work is to improve the numerical models that simulate the process of contaminant transport. "Traditional equations cannot correctly model the spread of a solute plume and cannot work in a heterogeneous aquifer," she explains. In other words, they are only of limited use for managing groundwater resources. Grabasnjak and Benson's approach helps improve the understanding of the complex processes that occur in an aquifer and provides a more accurate and realistic prediction of flow patterns. This will ultimately give communities dependent upon groundwater a better way to manage and protect that precious resource.

Kahldoon Al-Qudah is another hydrology student, working toward his Ph.D. under the direction of DRI President Dr. Stephen Wells and Dr. Richard French, a research professor in the Institute's Division of Hydrologic Sciences. In 1996 the Jordan native discovered that Nevada had more in common with his homeland than just an arid climate-it had researchers with the same interests as his. "A delegation came from DRI to Yarmouk University where I was, and I met Dr. Wells." (At that time, Wells was director of DRI's Quaternary Sciences Center.) "I talked to him and found we were interested in the same topics and in working together." Al-Qudah eventually came to DRI as part of a joint agreement with Yarmouk University. In addition to his studies, he is pursuing work on the hydrology and geomorphology of a catchment in northeast Jordan, studying infiltration depths and evidence of paleoflooding.

"I consider it a great opportunity to come to DRI, to see the American culture, and to work with the American people." He's also happy with his advisors, Wells and French. "My advisors are both leading scientists in their fields. It's an excellent opportunity."

In common, all the students miss home. "I am lucky," says Al-Qudah, "because I go to Jordan to conduct my research and get to visit my family." And, of course, there is the requisite amount of culture shock, adjusting to the good ("Everyone in the west is so friendly," says Ivanova. "The technology here is more advanced," comments Al-Qudah. "I can be in touch with everything."); the bad ("The first shock was that there was little public transportation," says Grabasnjak, "and I did not have a driver's license!"); and the just plain different ("Here it is very open," says Al-Qudah, "and there is so much freedom. We are not used to that.").

Also in common for the three is the anticipation of May graduation and their plans for "life after school." Ivanova's ties to the U.S. have been strengthened by marriage, while Grabasnjak is looking forward to putting her degree to work in her native Croatia. Al-Qudah will also be returning home, to teach at Yarmouk University in Jordan. "It is a very good thing to be going back to share what I have learned here. I hope in the future to remain in contact with DRI and the states."

And that's a sentiment shared by everyone at the Institute, as DRI works to strengthen ties with its international neighbors.

-Jackie Allen