|
Dr. Christopher G. Maples New DRI Vice
President for Research High resolution image available for download. |
Dr. Christopher G. Maples, former chair of the department of Geological Sciences at Indiana University and a veteran scientist and research manager, has been appointed vice president for research at the Desert Research Institute, DRI President Stephen G. Wells announced. Maples will oversee the development of DRI's broad-based research program that accounts for 85 per cent of the institute’s $37 million annual budget. He will assume his vice presidency November 3, 2003 and will initially be based at DRI's Las Vegas campus, Wells said.
Before arriving at Indiana University in 1998, Maples served as a program director for the National Science Foundation and as an administrator and scientist with the Kansas Geologic Survey. His research has focused on echinoderm paleontology, studying the extinction record of the fossil antecedents of starfish and sea urchins which lived as long as 360 million years ago, and sedimentary geology.
As DRI's chief research officer, Wells said Maples will work to expand the institute's capabilities for conducting interdisciplinary research and to develop and enhance research activities among DRI faculty at the institute’s Las Vegas and Reno campuses. The new VPR will also work to expand collaborative research efforts with other divisions in the University and Community College System of Nevada.
Maples said he first became familiar with DRI’s program when involved in a review of the institute’s research for the American Association for the Advancement of Science. “I really liked the entrepreneurial spirit here,” he said. “I discovered a very dynamic and active faculty. I was very excited about this position when it was announced.”
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 $37 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.
News Release Main Page