September 22, 2010

 Washington, D.C.— Nevada Senator Harry Reid announced today that the University of Nevada, Desert Research Institute will receive nearly $150,000 from the National Science Foundation to fund the Nevada Climate Change High School Science Fair Network.
 
“Increased opportunities and greater focus on geosciences education will better prepare Nevadan students to study this growing field with increasing job opportunities,” Reid said. “As the focus on geosciences builds, it will continue to push Nevada to the forefront of clean energy research and the jobs that come from clean energy development.”
 
The network will include Gathering Genius, Inc., UNLV’s Department of Environmental Studies, and Nevada System of Higher Education faculty and will focus on expanding Nevada’s climate change research community into rural schools and schools with large numbers of underrepresented students.  Along with providing faculty members with expertise to improve teachers’ understanding of climate change research by interpreting real-time geosciences data being collected in Nevada, around 150 students will be assisted in developing quality high school science fair research projects to enter into Intel’s Annual International Science and Engineering Fair. This program will help students pass the Nevada state high school proficiency exam in science and prepare students to pursue environmental studies in the future.