A recent meeting among researchers from the University of Nevada, University of California, Davis, and the Desert Research Institute at the historic Thunderbird Lodge was an important first step in establishing a common research agenda for the three entities as they expand efforts to reverse the decline in Lake Tahoe's environment. The meeting, hosted by the University of Nevada, was the first major scientific gathering ever held at the Thunderbird Lodge, acquired by the university in October as a key component in ongoing Tahoe research by all three institutions. The meeting between research team leaders was the first major action since the unveiling of the 1,200-page Lake Tahoe Watershed Assessment and the signing of the Tahoe Environmental Scientific System (TESS) by the three institutions on Feb. 16 at Kings Beach. By signing TESS, the chief executives of UC Davis, DRI and Nevada promised that their institutions would collaborate on all future research at Lake Tahoe. "We can't afford to miss issues and duplicate efforts," said Nevada biology professor Dennis Murphy, chief editor and a primary author of the Watershed Assessment. "Our meeting was the first clear manifestation of the cooperation that was called for at the Watershed Assessment's unveiling. "Saving the lake is a daunting task. This type of cooperation between institutions is necessary to save the lake. Nationally, I can't identify a single example of what we're trying to collaboratively accomplish at Tahoe." Professor Charles Goldman, director of the UC Davis Tahoe Research Group, noted that "These major players are now in complete harmony in moving rapidly towards the solution of Tahoe's watershed, air quality and transportation problems. They will make science-based decision making a key element in the wise expenditure of public and private funds in restoration of the fragile Tahoe ecosystem." The meeting, held last week, was attended by 14 individuals. The group included UC Davis limnologists Goldman and John Reuter, and atmospheric science professor emeritus Tom Cahill; Desert Research Institute associate research professor Roger Jacobson, atmospheric science professor Alan Gertler and research professor Dale Johnson; Glenn Miller, director of Nevada's Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering, and Murphy. The group agreed to develop an institutional strategy as a way of embedding science in the decision-making process for the more than 30 federal, state, regional and local agencies charged with Tahoe's environmental future. In particular, the group said that progress in the short-term must be made in: 1) communication between agencies; 2) refinement and improvement of measurements used in current scientific study; 3) anticipating the needs of agencies, staff and policy-makers at Lake Tahoe. "University researchers from both California and Nevada clearly understand the need for integrated monitoring, research and modeling to help to guide restoration activities at Lake Tahoe," Reuter said. "We recently submitted a joint proposal to the National Science Foundation to begin developing a research master plan and a structure from which to incorporate science into adaptive management." The UC Davis Tahoe Research Group has provided federal, state and local agencies with information for science-based decision making for many years. "We hope to accelerate this effort through current collaboration with other university and government scientists," Reuter said. "Certainly one of our biggest tasks is the need to convey to the general public how science can influence their enjoyment of the basin," Murphy said. In addition, the group agreed to develop a common research agenda between the institutions. The idea, according to Murphy, is to "prioritize future activities in research and ecosystem monitoring so that the most pressing management issues are solved in the shortest time frame while not ignoring long-term research activities." "To go from a promise of cooperation to a commitment to an inter-institutional research agenda is a huge step," Murphy said, "and I think we're succeeding in doing that."