Desert Research Institute names Dawn Coots Technical Employee of the
Year
Dawn Coots, program assistant in the Nevada Desert Research Institute’s Office of Institutional Advancement, has been selected 2002 Technical Employee of the Year, DRI President Stephen G. Wells announced. The award includes a $500 prize and a reserved parking place for one year.
Mrs. Coots is responsible for managing the DRI’s “WeatherNet” network connecting 31 Nevada schools online, and the institute’s “Science Box” program, which circulates more than 50 “hands-on”, teacher-designed science kits packaged in airline roll-on bags among Nevada’s K-12 classrooms. A DRI employee since 1997, she also provides administrative support for the Office of Institutional Advancement and the DRI Research Foundation.
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 500 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 $33 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.