DRI Research Professor Dale Johnson has received the 1999 Regents Researcher Award, the University and Community College System of Nevada's top faculty honor for research. Dr. Johnson's award acknowledges more than 25 years of outstanding research on soil chemistry, forest ecosystems, and natural resource management. Johnson, who is also deputy director of DRI's Biological Sciences Center, has gained an international reputation for his work spanning such topics as the impact of acid rain on forests and forest soils, the effects of forest fires on the health of forest ecosystems, the affects of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide on forests, and important basic advances in describing the movement of plant nutrients through those ecosystems. Johnson was nominated by Dr. James Coleman, DRI's interim vice president for research. "Perhaps most striking about Dale's career as a researcher are the continuity of his work and his persistence in questioning commonly held assumptions," says Coleman. He pointed to a landmark paper by Johnson showing that soil changes due to the effects of acid rain were occurring at a much faster rate than previously expected. "This contributed significantly to the understanding of this issue worldwide," Coleman notes. On DRI's faculty since 1989, Johnson is the second Institute scientist to receive the Regents Researcher Award, following the Board of Regents recognition of Dr. John Hallett, an atmospheric physicist, in 1998. Both are also recipients of DRI's Alessandro Dandini Award for Science, presented annually to DRI's top scientist.
Johnson's research has resulted in nearly $27 million in grants and contracts and in the publication of 31 book chapters and at least 95 peer-reviewed publications and 34 conference proceedings. He also teaches in the Environmental and Resources Sciences program at the University of Nevada, Reno.