FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 20, 2008                                 

Sierra Pacific Foundation funds DRI GreenPower program
Fayth Ross hired as Outreach Administrator

RENO – Fayth Ross has been named Outreach Administrator for the Desert Research Institute’s GreenPower Program, designed to promote the use of renewable energy in Nevada’s K-8 schools, thanks to an $84,000 grant from the Sierra Pacific Resources Foundation for Charitable Contributions.

“DRI is grateful for Sierra Pacific’s continued support of the GreenPower program,” said Stephen Wells, DRI President. “With this investment in the institute, education and the environment, DRI is fortunate to bring on someone of Fayth Ross’ caliber.”

Ross, who has taught at both the K-12 and university level, spent three years with Altairnano (a Reno-based ceramic nanomaterials company). She earned a bachelor's degree in Technical Writing, and a master's degree in Theory and Practice of Writing from Utah State University.

Since its inception in 2000, GreenPower has been a partnership among DRI, Sierra Pacific Power, Nevada Power, and their customers. Funded by the generosity of customers voluntarily adding a few dollars to their monthly electrical bill, the mission of the GreenPower program is to support and promote the use and development of green sources of energy in Nevada, with an emphasis on educating Nevada's K-12 population.

The GreenPower program brings renewable energy education to schools throughout the state of Nevada by installing permanent solar panels and wind turbines for schools throughout the state. These modest installations are hooked up to monitoring systems which assist students in learning about how renewable energy is generated. Teachers receive corresponding curriculum to use in their lessons to enforce the idea that renewable energy is attainable. There are currently seventeen GreenPower schools operating throughout the state of Nevada. The most recent school site was the Mountain View Montessori School in Reno, which was completed in fall 2007. The GreenPower program is currently working towards creating a new school, which will be in Clark County.

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Note to Reporters and Editors: DRI, the nonprofit research campus of the Nevada System of Higher Education, strives to be the world leader in environmental sciences through the application of knowledge and technologies to improve people’s lives throughout Nevada and the world.