Environment & Public Health

A rapidly changing environment brings new health challenges, and UArizona faculty address these issues through interdisciplinary projects, ranging from managing public health crises, to water and food contamination, to the connections between health and climate change.

Our research
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Inspired by Data Science, Team Aims to Fulfill the Promise of NEPA Environmental Goals

During the 1960s, a series of environmental catastrophes and revelatory books transformed the American environmental consciousness, setting the stage for the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1969. More than fifty years later, a group of researchers at the University of Arizona is helping to bring NEPA’s original vision into the 21st century through advanced data science practices, galvanizing a new generation of environmental leaders.

Noah Weaver headshot

Noah Weaver on Getting Involved and Tackling Health Disparities, Together

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.

Politics of vaccine, mask mandates complicate return to normal on college campuses

Millions of students returned to campus this fall for the in-person college experience, as the delta variant continues to impact parts of the U.S. Some schools have strict mandates for vaccination, testing and masking. In other places, that’s not an option. Hari Sreenivasan begins the latest in our “Rethinking College” series at two of America’s flagship universities.

Refugee camps can wreak enormous environmental damages – should source countries be liable for them?

While it may seem that much of the world has been locked down during the past pandemic year, more than 80 million people are currently on the move – unwillingly.

Dr. Karletta Chief Receives Distinguished Outreach Faculty Award

Dr. Karletta Chief received the University Distinguished Outreach Faculty Award for 2021, an honor that recognizes faculty who demonstrate outstanding commitment to outreach for the common good of the state and the nation.

From the Wastewater Drain, Solid Pandemic Data

Marc Johnson saw trouble in the water.

William Borkan Places Second in EnViSion 2021

WilliamBorkan is an Indige-FEWSS trainee and Master's student in the School of Environmental Sciences. Borkan competed in the 2021 Virtual Earth Week EnVision contest and placed 2nd among all graduate student participants for his presentation on Comparing Uranium Transport Through Two Different Porous Media. 

Joan Rose by a river

Joan Rose presents a special public talk, May 2021

In a special public talk, Dr. Rose offers a look into her career and her significant contributions to the understanding of water microbiology and its use in monitoring water quality to improve public health.