Desert Research Institute, the research arm of the Nevada System of Higher Education, will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a yearlong series of lectures by its scientists in Reno, Las Vegas and Boulder City.

The researchers will address topics ranging from efforts to save China’s Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses from the effects of air pollution, to industrialization’s impacts on the environment.

DRI, established by the Nevada Legislature in 1959, is celebrating its growth from a handful of scientists working at the University of Nevada to a free-standing institute with campuses in Reno and Las Vegas, 500 employees, and 300 environmental-sciences research projects around the world.

The kickoff for the anniversary celebration will be the 2009 DRI Nevada Medal Dinner and Awards Ceremony, scheduled for Tuesday at the Peppermill in Reno, and April 9 in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace. Details are available online at www.dri.edu.

Renowned physician and geneticist Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., former director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, is this year’s recipient of the prestigious award for outstanding achievement in science and engineering.

Collins is scheduled to lecture at noon on April 8 at DRI’s Northern Nevada Science Center, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, in the Stout Conference Rooms; and at 11:45 a.m. April 9 in Las Vegas at DRI’s Southern Nevada Science Center (SNSC), 755 East Flamingo Road, Rooms 181-182.