51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ

51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Davis
environmental discoveries

We have made the world a better, more sustainable place. Our research helped to take the lead out of gasoline and preserve majestic Lake Tahoe.

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Getting lead
out of gasoline

Thomas Cahill and colleagues at the Crocker Nuclear Lab used the lab’s cyclotron to study air quality, among other things. In the 1970s, Cahill’s team provided evidence showing how lead pollution spread from freeways over neighborhoods, leading then-Gov. Jerry Brown to introduce the first controls on lead as a gasoline additive.

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Keeping
Tahoe blue

51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ physicist John Le Conte took the first scientific measurements of Lake Tahoe’s clear blue waters in 1868. A century later, the Tahoe Research Group, founded by 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Davis Professor Charles Goldman, began regular monitoring of the lake.

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Back to discoveries home

More from 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Davis

Feeding a Growing Population

Connecting our research and expertise to the effort to feed a growing population under a changing climate.

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Advancing Health Worldwide

Advancing the study of medicine as a worldwide leader in human health and veterinary sciences.

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Driven by Curiosity

Answering foundational questions about our world, showcasing research that transcends science, technology, arts and humanities, and social sciences.

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