The Desert Research Institute is a major research organization, which focuses on basic and applied environmental research. “investigating the effects of natural and human-induced environmental change and advancing technologies aimed at assessing a changing planet. It serves as the non-profit environmental research arm of the Nevada System of Higher Education and applies a scientific understanding, to support the effective management of natural resources.” They run many different research programs and projects.

Selected Projects:

• Center for International Water and Sustainability – Addresses the “gaps in knowledge, research, and human resource capacity that persist in developing countries and assist in reducing health related issues and in the design of sustainable WASH and environmental programs.” Aims to provide “information and technical capacity to governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working to identify and solve problems related to human health and the management of environmental resources.”
• WaterStart – A business accelerator, that leverages and coordinates the expertise and infrastructure of partner organizations to provide water innovation services to water management agencies, technology companies, and policy-makers to spur economic growth in the water sector.

Major Research Programs:

• Atmospheric Sciences
• Earth and Ecosystem Sciences
• Hydrologic Sciences
• Western Regional Climate Center

Publications:

• A digital newsroom
• Behind the Science Blog