Nevada System Of Higher Education

Desert Research Institute, the Research Administration Services and Compliance Division of the Nevada System of Higher Education, acts as a prime contractor and federal grant recipient delivering specialized environmental research, climate science, water resources analysis, and technical services to federal civilian and defense agencies. DRI competes predominantly on full-and-open contracts without set-aside designations, reflecting its non-profit academic research institute status and specialized technical capabilities rather than small-business positioning.

DRI's federal footprint spans 923 awards (871 prime, 52 sub) across 103 customer agencies, with 9% of the combined $5.65 billion potential value obligated as of mid-2026. Award volume has been stable to declining—41 awards in 2022, peaking at 55 in 2023, then moderating to 43 in 2025. DRI holds a $17.9 million NOAA IDIQ for Western Regional Climate Center services awarded in April 2021, which has generated 34 task orders worth $15.7 million since; this is the vendor's most productive parent vehicle. A $7.49 million single-award National Park Service IDIQ for IMPROVE carbon analysis (awarded July 2023) anchors a secondary vehicle stream. DRI also maintains positions on GSA Schedule GS09B01075 (57 task orders, $4.7 million) and multiple smaller IDIQs with the Army Corps of Engineers (ERDC), Army Test and Evaluation Command, and the Department of Energy.

Customer concentration is dispersed across research and environmental agencies. NOAA leads by award count (97 awards, $62.8 million combined potential value) and dollars, driven largely by Western Regional Climate Center delivery orders for drought monitoring, climate data analysis, and weather system operations at Lake Powell and across western reservoirs. The National Park Service ranks second in dollars ($40.1 million across 38 awards) through carbon analysis, recreational planning, and ecosystem monitoring cooperatives. The Army Corps of Engineers ERDC contributes $39.9 million across 18 awards for environmental sensing, soil characterization, snow mobility prediction, and watershed modeling under BAA solicitations. The NSF carries 104 awards (largest count) spanning fundamental research in atmospheric sciences, geosciences, polar programs, and integrative activities, but these are typically smaller project grants. Top dollars also flow from Army Test and Evaluation Command ($25.6 million, 11 awards) for 3D terrain modeling and environmental characterization work at Yuma Proving Ground.

Concrete capability work includes the following representatives: a $37.5 million Department of Energy NNSA five-year definitive contract (awarded May 2022, through April 2027) for technical research, engineering, and development services supporting the Nevada Field Office, with FY2024 labor invoiced at median $238.41/hr across 16.5 FTEs; a $5 million Army ERDC definitive contract (awarded August 2025) for emerging sensor and computational technologies for target detection under BAA #24-0007; a $5 million Army ERDC definitive contract (awarded June 2025) for watershed-scale cross-country vehicle mobility prediction; a $1.35 million Defense Threat Reduction Agency delivery order (awarded April 2025) for treaty monitoring and verification analytical subject matter expertise; a $6.1 million Army Test and Evaluation Command sole-source definitive contract (awarded September 2023) for 3D modeling and environmental characterization at Yuma Proving Ground; and a $2.27 million Army ERDC definitive contract (awarded August 2024) for blowing snow prediction package development. On the civilian side, a $1.05 million EPA grant (awarded June 2025) establishes a Southwest Regional Stormwater Center of Excellence focused on green stormwater infrastructure, capture-and-use assessment, and impaired-waters modeling. A $1.3 million USGS cooperative agreement (awarded January 2025) funds evapotranspiration mapping and modeling enhancement for national-scale consumptive water use reporting, building on DRI's OpenET software and cloud-based ET analysis platform. Recent NSF project grants in geosciences ($507–$598 thousand each, awarded August 2025) support paleoenvironmental records of North American ice patches, mineral dust aerosol optical properties, and angularly resolved light scattering from dust particles.

DRI's federal grant portfolio is substantial and diversified. The vendor acts as primary recipient on research grants from NSF (geosciences, atmospheric sciences, polar programs, integrative activities), NOAA (climate adaptation, regional resilience, urban heat), the Department of Education (STEM workforce development, AI education), EPA (stormwater centers of excellence), the Bureau of Reclamation (water resources, evaporation monitoring, snow temperature surveying), USGS (water research, hydrologic modeling), and the National Endowment for the Humanities (archaeological digital preservation). Recent awards include a $2.8 million Department of Education grant (awarded September 2024) for K-12 STEM skill development in critical materials and technology careers; a $2.51 million NIST grant (awarded September 2023) to enhance the EcoCell lysimeter facility for greenhouse gas flux measurement; and a $3.26 million NSF Integrative Activities grant (awarded August 2025) for collaborative research on mineral dust aerosol optical properties across a three-state team. DRI also receives subawards from larger primes—Colorado State University (satellite ET data support for transboundary groundwater characterization), Texas A&M (reservoir evaporation monitoring and forecasting), University of Washington (cloud-resolving aerosol simulations), and others—performing specialized analysis and modeling support.

Service Contract Inventory data shows SCI-reportable invoiced revenue of $8.9 million (FY2022), $7.5 million (FY2023), and $13 million (FY2024) across roughly 22–28 FTEs on federal service contracts above $150,000. Government-paid hourly rates on SCI-captured prime contracts ranged from a 10th percentile of $126.58/hr to a median of $226.76/hr, with 90th percentile specialist labor priced around $3,109/hr. These figures capture only service contracts and exclude research grants, goods, and classified work, so SCI revenue is a subset of DRI's total federal activity.

DRI performs nearly all work as prime (94% of awards) and self-delivers the majority—SCI-reported sub-hours share is 0% across prime contracts—indicating the vendor builds and maintains its own delivery teams of scientists, technicians, and support staff rather than relying on subcontractor labor. When DRI subcontracts (6% of awards), it typically serves as a secondary participant on larger university or prime-contractor research initiatives. Recompete exposure is material: 61 awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $58.8 million, including the NNSA TREDS II contract (due April 2027), multiple NOAA Western Regional Climate Center task orders, NSF research grants, and Army ERDC definitive contracts.

DRI is headquartered in Reno, Nevada and operates as a division of the Nevada System of Higher Education under the parent Office of the Governor. The institute leverages state higher-education infrastructure and governance while maintaining federal independence for procurement and grant administration. Its peer-reviewed scientific credibility, specialized laboratory capabilities (luminescence dating, cosmogenic radionuclide analysis, aerosol spectrometry, soil characterization), and established relationships with NOAA, the Army, NSF, and the National Park Service position it as a trusted provider of research services for federal agencies prioritizing climate adaptation, environmental monitoring, and advanced materials research.