Biodiversity, Conservation & Ecosystems

With an unparalleled network of environmental monitoring stations, research field sites and cyber infrastructure, UArizona pioneers fundamental and use-inspired ecosystem science to help save species and conserve the lands, forests and wildlife of the western U.S. and beyond.

Our research
Nadira Mitchell headshot

Nadira Mitchell: How Collecting Snails Turned Into a Passion for Indigenous Environmental Equity

Nic Katz standing above the Grand Canyon

Nicolas Katz On Jumping Headfirst Into Conservation and Climate Justice

Science Moms are on a mission to spread science-based climate optimism

When we feel overwhelmed and hopeless, many of us turn to our mothers or the mother figures we have in our lives for comfort and encouragement. As adults the challenges we face are much bigger than a scraped knee, with wider problems like climate change possibly luring us into despair.

Announcing the 2022 AIR Resilience Grants Recipients

On October 28, 2021, the Arizona Institutes for Resilience (AIR) awarded Resilience Grants totaling nearly $400,000 to seven teams representing six UArizona colleges and 10 departments or units. The grants are funded by the Technology and Research Initiative Fund (TRIF), administered by the Office of Research, Innovation & Impact and AIR, and supported through Arizona sales tax revenues.

Brown tarantulas are on the move as the arachnids embark on a mating journey

Across the Southwest, thousands of male brown tarantulas are marching across the landscape, their journey part of an annual migration of sorts, when the hairy creatures leave their burrows in search of a mate. 

University of Arizona launches program to work with tribes on sustainability

The University of Arizona (UofA) has launched the Indigenous Resilience Center, a new initiative to support national and international Indigenous communities’ abilities to respond to environmental challenges such as climate change, droughts, flooding and pandemics.

A hidden forest on campus: Inside the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research

The Bannister Building looks distinct among the typical red-brick buildings on campus, yet students walking by, preoccupied by their phones and classes, fail to notice the 40-foot-long steel columns suspended from the building. 

'I almost needed a machete' — burned areas brim with new growth after monsoon

Christopher B. Yazzie, Diné College, Class of 2012

Christopher B. Yazzie is a member of the Navajo Nation. He is Tó’adheedlíinii (Water Flows Together clan), born for Bííh Bitoodnii (Deer Spring clan). He was born and raised in the Navajo Nation and is from Tuba City and Dinebito Dam, Arizona. Yazzie is currently pursuing a PhD in chemical and environmental engineering at the University of Arizona (UA), but his higher education began at Diné College nearly a decade after graduating from Tuba City High School