Tiffany Morales, Founder and President of Ray of Sunshine Ministry, is bringing STEM education to foster children and homeschool students in Southern Nevada. This year, Ray of Sunshine is utilizing DRI STEM Education Program’s Green Boxes to provide STEM and robotics programs to these groups. Morales said, “With DRI’s service, we’re able to provide excellent robotics programs to homeschool groups and foster care facilities, absolutely free of cost to us and to them.”
Twenty-six years since it was first awarded, the Peter B. Wagner Award for Women in Atmospheric Science remains the only award in the United States for female graduate students in the atmospheric sciences. Thanks to the generosity of Sue Wagner, the exceptional work of women graduate students in the atmospheric sciences will continue to be recognized and honored in perpetuity.
The Nell J. Redfield Foundation recently made a three-year commitment to support Nevada Robotics’ Books and Bots Teacher Trainings, which will provide classroom lessons in Pre-Kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms using robots and storybooks.
Earlier this year, thanks to generous matching commitments from the Tom and Mary Gallagher Foundation and the Bretzlaff Foundation, DRI established the IRP Endowment, ensuring funding in perpetuity. To maximize the impact of the IRP Endowment, the Gallagher Foundation and Bretzlaff Foundation have made their commitments a dollar for dollar match up to $2 million with a goal of raising a $5 million endowment.
Betty Gallifent recently established the Elizabeth and John Gallifent Endowment, which will provide unrestricted support for DRI.
Proceeds from Click Bond’s Valentine candy-gram employee fundraiser, which were matched through its Employee Charitable Giving Match program, were donated to Nevada Robotics to help ensure students have equitable access to computer science and STEM education.
At the end of 2023, the DRI STEM Education Program received generous funding from MGM Resorts International to host four STEM Co-Lab teacher trainings in southern Nevada. The first training, which took place in January at the southern Nevada DRI STEM Co-lab, focused on the use of photon robots in K-12 classrooms to teach coding.
Moser’s research, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, focuses on the development and implementation of environmental DNA (eDNA) tools for tracking endangered and invasive aquatic species on historic ranch properties on the headwaters of the Amargosa Wild and Scenic River.
The E.L. Cord Foundation Diversity Graduate Research Assistantship (DGRA) advances the educational and research pursuits of a DRI graduate student that shows high potential for achievement and is from a community that has been traditionally underrepresented in the sciences.
Philanthropy is a multigenerational Lewis family tradition. During his childhood, Robert Lewis wanted to be a scientist. He has supported DRI for almost 15 years and was part of an instrumental group of donors that provided philanthropic support to launch the Innovative Research Program (IRP) in 2018.