Dr. Xiaolong “Bill” Hu receives DRI's 2002 Wagner "Young Scientist" Award
Dr. Xiaolong “Bill” Hu, a soil and groundwater scientist at the Desert Research Institute, has been
selected as the recipient of the 2002 Peter B. Wagner Medal of Excellence, an award for outstanding
scientific accomplishments by DRI faculty in the early stages of their careers. Hu received a
$1,000 prize and minted medal for the award, named in honor of a DRI atmospheric scientist who
died in the crash of a research aircraft in 1980.
Hu, an assistant research professor in DRI’s Division of Hydrologic Sciences in Las Vegas, develops
mathematical models to describe the natural variability of groundwater movement and the transport of
pollutants by groundwater through rock and soil. A member of DRI’s research faculty since 1997, he
received his Ph.D. in Soil and Groundwater Environmental Science from Purdue University.
The award was established in 1998 by Peter Wagner’s widow, Sue Wagner, a member of the Nevada Gaming
Control Board and formerly Nevada lieutenant governor and state senator. She also established the
Peter B. Wagner Memorial Award for Women in Atmospheric Sciences, an annual national award to
encourage women to study in that field.
A nonprofit, statewide division of the University and Community College System of Nevada, DRI
pursues a full-time program of basic and applied environmental research on a local, national, and
international scale. Nearly 400 full- and part-time scientists, technicians, and support staff
conduct some 150 research projects at DRI annually. More than 85 percent of DRI's annual $35
million operating budget consists of research grants and contracts obtained by its scientists. The
balance is received from the state of Nevada for administrative costs.