science

Lake Tahoe Community College English instructor Michael O’Laughlin and Sociology/Anthropology instructor Dr. Scott Lukas have both been honored for their outstanding work in the classroom. O’Laughlin was selected by LTCC students as their Teacher of the Year, and Dr. Lukas was chosen by his fellow faculty members as the Distinguished Faculty Award recipient. The winners will each personally receive $500 thanks to a generous donation by the LTCC Foundation. They’ll also each get to direct another $500 towards the LTCC program or scholarship or classroom materials of their choice.

For the first time since 1996, enrollment in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District appears to be on an upward trend. There are 102 new students in the district so far this school year, bringing the total number of students currently enrolled to 3,832.

This figure is still far below the number of students attending local school in the 1996-1997 school year when there were 5,978 in grades K to 12.

The breakdown of students at the district's 6 schools:

Bijou Community School – 572
Sierra House Elementary School 493

The main mass of a rare meteorite that exploded over California’s Sierra foothills in April 2012 will be preserved for current and future scientific discoveries, thanks to the collaborative efforts of five U.S. academic institutions.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is marking this year’s Lake Tahoe Summit by highlighting the Environmental Improvement Program’s 15 years of achievement restoring and protecting Lake Tahoe’s fragile ecosystem.

Launched at the 1997 Presidential Forum at Lake Tahoe by then President Bill Clinton, and Vice President Al Gore, the Environmental Improvement Program (EIP) is a partnership of more than 50 federal, state, and local agencies, private interests, and the Washoe Tribe.

Lake Tahoe organizations whose collaborative work over the past 15 years has been a driving force for advancing Lake Tahoe restoration efforts applauded congressional leaders Thursday for introducing a $415 million reauthorization of the federal Lake Tahoe Restoration Act.

Sandboxes have come a long way. A new interactive, augmented-reality exhibit brings watersheds to life at the University of California, Davis' Tahoe Science Center in Incline Village, Nev.

Participants run their hands through real sand, forming mountains, lakes and rivers, while a 3-D camera and digital projector allowusers to create virtual topography in real time, make it "rain" and watch where the water flows.

UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center releases the annual Lake Tahoe: State of the Lake Report on Wednesday, August 7. Director Geoff Schladow will present the most important factors that affect lake health at a public presentation at the Tahoe Science Center in Incline Village, Nevada on August 7 at 6 p.m.

Date: Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Time: No-host bar opens 5:30 p.m. Presentation begins 6 p.m.
Location: Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences, 291 Country Club Drive, Incline Village, NV
Cost: $5 donation suggested

"No. 10 DeSean Jackson: The Making of a Father’s Dream,” the documentary by Jackson’s brother Byron Jackson and Hollywood Director Kern Konwiser will screen Wednesday, July 17 at the Horizon Casino and Resort, during the 24th American Century Celebrity Championship Tournament in Stateline, Lake Tahoe, Nev.

The multicultural film with universal themes presented by Wright Enterprises and LaHitz Media as an encore of the San Francisco Black Film Festival benefits the Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe and the academic arm of SportsRhythms.

Location

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit and the Tahoe Institute for Natural Science will host the fourth annual Lake Tahoe Bird Festival on Saturday, June 8, followed by the third annual Native Species Festival on Sunday, June 9.

Residents and visitors are invited to attend these free family events from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Taylor Creek Visitor Center, located three miles north of South Lake Tahoe on Highway 89.

June 8 event:

Join UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center for an Open House at the Tahoe City Field Station (Historic Hatchery) at 2400 Lake Forest Road from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 15. Visitors can tour the historic building, talk to TERC scientists about their work, and learn something new about Lake Tahoe. Local garden clubs will be on hand to give plant selection and gardening advice, and Red Truck of Truckee will sell food and beverages.

Elizabeth Carmel, a former land use planner and advisor with extensive experience working in the Sierra, has joined the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board following her appointment by California Assembly Speaker John Perez (D-Los Angeles).

The seat is one of 14 voting positions on the environmental planning agency’s board - seven representing California and seven representing Nevada. One board seat, appointed by the President of the United States, is non-voting.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit and the Tahoe Institute for Natural Science will host the fourth annual Lake Tahoe Bird Festival on Saturday, June 8.

Residents and visitors are invited to attend this free family event from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Taylor Creek Visitor Center, located three miles north of South Lake Tahoe on Highway 89.

How much will people pay to watch three middle-aged guys make fun of a really bad movie? Quite a lot, as it turns out - as long as the guys are "Mystery Science Theater 3000" alums Mike Nelson, Kev...

Nevada son and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid addressed a joint session of the Nevada State Legislature today in Carson City. Here is the text of his speech:

Following years of public process and serious discussions to improve one of the strictest environmental plans in the nation, the Sierra Club recently filed suit on the update of Lake Tahoe’s Regional Plan, a blueprint for the region’s long-term sustainability.

UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, the Tahoe Expedition Academy, other community partners, and with sponsorship from the Rotary Club of Tahoe-Incline, will host the eighth annual Science Expo on March 18 - 21, 2013 for students from the region.

The Science Expo is open to the general public on the evening of Wednesday, March 20 from 4 – 6 p.m. for children of all ages together with their families at the Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences in Incline Village. Ice cream will be provided by Susie Scoops of Incline Village. Admission is free.

While many already know ‘A Noun is a Person, Place or Thing,’ what they may not know is it’s time to show your inner rock star at the School House Rocks event to support local schools. The ‘Conjunction Junction’ will start at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23 at MontBleu and it will feature a live DJ, music, silent and live auctions, cocktails, food and more.

Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet School teacher Bob Comlossy takes his fifth-grade class up Mt. Tallac every year on both a real and a virtual hike to apply the lessons they'd learned in the...

WASHINGTON (AP) - While the U.S. was smashing heat marks last year, the world as a whole barely slipped into the top 10 hottest years on record, two American science agencies said Tuesday.The globa...

Reno writer and educator, Raymond Rugg, has been selected as a panelist for the Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Association's 33rd annual conference, slated for February in Albuquerque, N.M. He will be discussing his short story, tum' and the Agency school, at a panel designed to explore the combination of speculative fiction and indigenous peoples.

Rugg is the former editor of Lake Tahoe Action Magazine and a former staff member of both the Tahoe Daily Tribune and the Reno Gazette-Journal.

As soon as the snow started to fly in Hope Valley, David Beck had the feeling that the short-lived "retirement" lifestyle he had been tolerating was going to be over very soon if he could have his way. He had the feeling that all he needed was to recover a little bit from his new knee replacement, and soon he could be out again mushing behind a full set of huskies on the snowy trails of Hope Valley.

Combining the world's best musicians with the world's best snow conditions, the 2012 SnowGlobe Festival in South Lake Tahoe is a one-of-a-kind experience that offers the ultimate fusion: music and mountains.
The second SnowGlobe Music Festival will be held on the Lake Tahoe Community College campus in South Lake Tahoe over three days, Saturday through New Year's Eve.

A meteorite that exploded as a fireball over California’s Sierra Nevada foothills April 22 and heard throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin was among the fastest, rarest meteorites known to have hit the Earth, and it traveled a highly eccentric orbital route to get here.

An international team of scientists presents these and other findings in a study published Friday, Dec. 21, in the journal Science. The 70-member team included nine researchers from UC Davis, along with scientists from the SETI Institute, NASA and other institutions.