Closer DRI, UNLV ties in Water Resources Management grad program
Aims to enhance training of future water-policy makers

First-year UNLV graduate student Rebekah Harris-Burr, who is pursuing a master’s degree in chemistry, looks on as Dr. Lambis Papelis studies a soil sample in an x-ray photoelectron spectrometer at a DRI laboratory in Las Vegas. The XPS is used to probe the composition and bonding environment of the topmost layers of a solid surface at an incredibly thin five to 10 atomic monolayers. (Photo by Ron Kalb)

“Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over.” That cowpoke adage—often attributed to Mark Twain—resonates as loudly in the new millennium as it did when six-guns ruled the Old West. But managing and conserving Earth’s most precious asset is no laughing matter. Within 50 years, millions of people worldwide will face shortages brought on by the pollution and mismanagement of water resources, the United Nations reports. So, training a new generation of skilled professionals well versed in both science and water policy is more important than ever.

University of Nevada, Las Vegas—one of the Desert Research Institute’s sister institutions in the University and Community College System of Nevada—is ideally situated by way of faculty and geography to understand water resources management, especially in arid lands. In fact, UNLV is one of a handful of institutions of higher learning offering a master of science degree in Water Resources Management, or WRM.

As this graduate program has evolved over the last few years, the benefits of close collaboration between UNLV and DRI have become apparent to all, according to the DRI Associate Research Professor Dr. Charalambos “Lambis” Papelis. A nine-year veteran of DRI’s Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Papelis is principal investigator of a study to evaluate the potential of selenium migration in the Las Vegas Wash and adjacent areas; co-principal investigator, with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study of contamination by perchlorate—the primary ingredient of solid rocket propellant— in the Las Vegas Valley; other water and sediment quality projects along the Las Vegas Wash; and various geochemical investigations at the Nevada Test Site.

Athens-born Papelis, who is fluent in seven languages, has been actively involved for nearly a decade with UNLV’s WRM program, where next-generation shapers of water policy are trained. A highly regarded teacher, adviser, and steering committee member, he joined the graduate program in1994. So when Papelis was named director of the interdisciplinary program last fall, the decision was widely hailed in the College of Sciences and at DRI. Papelis is the first DRI professor to lead the program in its 20-year history, and his appointment launches a new era of collaboration between DRI and UNLV.

“Lambis is far and away the best choice to head the program,” says Dr. Fred Bachhuber, UNLV Dean of theCollege of Sciences, where the program resides. “He brings with him not only DRI’s world-class scientific resources, but also a new vision for a program with huge potential to make a dramatic impact in an area of increasing global importance.” According to Bachhuber, because fresh water is fundamental to life and is a limited resource, its management is a key to heading off political flashpoints between nations, regions, states, counties, cities, towns and even neighborhoods.

UNLV was instrumental in bringing about the closer working relationship, and for good reason. “We are looking forward to increased collaboration between UNLV and DRI,” UNLV President Carol C. Harter says. “Faculty and students in the WRM program will enjoy considerable benefit from the opportunity to work with researchers from both institutions.”

Papelis points to DRI’s close and long-standing relationship with University of Nevada, Reno that dates back to 1962. “UNR’s Graduate Program of Hydrologic Sciences is consistently ranked among the top 10 hydrology programs in the U.S.,” Papelis says. “That’s not a bad working model for WRM.”

UNLV Dean of the College of Sciences Dr. Fred Bachhuber and Dr. Lambis Papelis, director of the university’s interdisciplinary Water Resources Management graduate program, discuss curriculum issues at a recent meeting. (Photo by Ron Kalb)

He admits this will take some time—WRM has eight students, compared to some 80 in UNR’s Hydrologic Sciences program—but he thinks DRI’s and UNLV’s science and administrative expertise in managing water resources in arid lands will create considerable demand for the program once it gets into high gear.

Papelis says UNLV’s program is unique in that it offers master’s degree candidates equal emphasis on physical sciences and water management courses. The WRM program blends the physical aspects of the hydrologic sciences with policy and management issues. “We encourage applications from people with undergraduate degrees in the social sciences, management and environmental studies as well as those with ‘hard science’ degrees,” Papelis says. A recent batch of applicants included an attorney who wants to parlay his legal background into a new career in WRM.

Degree candidates must take six credits in hydrologic sciences, three units in science, math or engineering and nine credits in management, public administration, economics, law or political science. An additional nine elective credits may be chosen from among the physical sciences or policy management courses.

Dr. Roger Jacobson, DRI vice president for academic affairs and acting VP for research and business development, believes UNLV’s program is ideally staffed and located for global leadership in WRM. “Southern Nevada and the southwest are a crossroads for rapid land development and diminishing water supplies,” Jacobson says. “UNLV and DRI faculty have solid science-based and policy knowledge about issues surrounding the Colorado River, Lake Mead and other water sources in addition to disputes arising in California, Arizona and Nevada.”

Jacobson also sees stronger collaborative academic and scientific relationships resulting from the new dual role Papelis is taking on. “Having access to DRI people, resources and research projects also gives UNLV’s WRM program a powerful recruiting tool with prospective grad students,” Jacobson says. According to Jacobson, the real-world experience students gain in the WRM program also gives them a leg up in the job market at DRI and other organizations,

And DRI benefits, too. “A closer tie to this important UNLV graduate program helps our faculty recruiting efforts as well,” says Dr. Stephen Wells, DRI president. “Many of the world-class researchers we want to attract want part-time teaching opportunities and access to graduate students. We’re now in a better position to offer these kinds of value-added relationships.”

Wells also explains that while DRI is a fulltime environmental research entity, the Institute’s enabling act requires training new scientists. “These teaching and joint-research relationships with UCCSN campuses are embedded in our culture, and we value them very highly.”

In addition to heading the UNLV WRM graduate program—which accounts for nearly 20 percent of his time—the energetic Papelis, who earned his master’s degree and doctorate in environmental engineering at Stanford, continues handling DRI research projects as well as teaching duties at UNLV and Nevada State College. He is also on the UNR hydrologic sciences faculty. And further proving that water is his life, Papelis also teaches scuba diving on the weekends at Lake Mead, just east of Las Vegas.

If Papelis gets his way and rational, science-based WRM policies prevail, the only fights over water in the latter half of this century will involve water pistols and mischievous little brothers or sisters who splash their siblings in the swimming pool.

– Ron Kalb