Tracy said research challenges in the Lake Tahoe Basin are the first and most pressing objective for the new research group. "We will be addressing the factors involved in water quality, air quality, soil biology and the health of the basin's alpine ecosystem in cooperation with the University of Nevada, Reno, the University of California at Davis, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, along with other state and federal agencies in the basin."
Wells said Tracy's research experience has focused on developing models of environmental systems to improve water quality management and to develop systems to support environmental decision-making. Tracy received his Ph.D. in Engineering at the University of California at Davis. WES is one of two new interdisciplinary environmental research centers created in a recent reorganization of DRI's primary research groups.