UNR researchers awarded $890,000 grant from NSF

By: Staff Report

Monday, October 26, 2009 - 11:06 PM

Researchers from the University of Nevada, Reno were awarded an $890,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to establish the Center for Transformative Environmental Monitoring Programs.

The center, which will be run as a collaborative effort between UNR and Oregon State University, will make fiber optic and laser thermometers available to other researchers around the country. The thermometers were developed by Scott Tyler, a UNR geological sciences researcher and were first used to measure the temperature of Walker River and the soil surrounding it. They have since been used to measure temperatures in caves, mines, avalanches and other parts of nature.

With the founding of the center, UNR will become a testing and training site for the new thermometers and their use in research.