A local man is the recipient of the 2000-2001 Sierra Pacific Fellowship, in association with the Desert Research Institute (DRI) and the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR).

Frank J. Stewart of Reno will enter into the Environmental Sciences and Health Graduate Program at UNR to pursue a Master's degree in Ecological Toxicology. His Sierra Pacific Fellowship will provide a one-year award of $16,000 plus fees, and will be distributed to him by DRI in the form of a monthly stipend. He also receives the services of a DRI Research Assistant during the 12-month period, including office space at DRI and use of the Institute's computer and laboratory facilities.

Stewart is a recent graduate of Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vt., with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Biology. In 1996, he graduated from Bishop Manogue High School, where he was class valedictorian with a 4.0 GPA, captained the varsity football team, played four years, and made All-State his senior year. He also was a member of the varsity track and field team for four years.

Stewart intends to "seek an in-depth understanding of how natural systems function at an ecosystem level, and how human activity can both adversely modify their function and help to remedy environmental disturbances."

Previously, he worked with DRI as a field and laboratory assistant in the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica in the winter of 1999-2000. One of his first assignments under this Fellowship will be as a member of the U.S. Southern Ocean Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics Program. The proposed study will use a research approach to evaluate the biological, chemical and physical factors that control the distribution and success of Antarctic krill in waters off the Antarctic Peninsula. Krill are planktonic crustaceans and larvae that make up the principal food of certain whales.

The Sierra Pacific Fellowship is part of a five-year, $715,000 scholarship program, which the Sierra Pacific Foundation provides to the University of Nevada, Reno. The Fellowship is awarded competitively, with applications evaluated by committees from the DRI and UNR faculties, as well as by a representative of Sierra Pacific Power. The Foundation is the charitable arm of Sierra Pacific.

The Desert Research Institute is a nonprofit, statewide division of the University and Community College System of Nevada. DRI pursues a full-time program of basic and environmental research on a local, national and international scale. The Institute employs nearly 400 full- and part-time staff scientists, technicians and support personnel.