News

Sunrise shot of the Tucson area from the roof of the Thomas W. Keating Bioresearch Building (BIO5 Institute)

Celebrated for its vast natural beauty, wild rivers, iconic landscapes, and old-growth forests, the western United States is also central to some of our nation’s most critical environmental issues, including drought, wildfire, urban sprawl, and natural and cultural resource management. Learn how our research provides solutions to environmental challenges for the Desert Southwest, and beyond.

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Contamination of Medicinal Plants: Implications for Indigenous Health

A new study will trace the legacy of uranium mining on commercially available medicinal plants.

Biosphere 2 study: Tropical forests might be more resilient to rising temperatures than expected

step inside Biosphere 2’s tropical rainforest, which thrives beneath an enormous glass dome, and visitors are met by a wall of warm humidity and lush greenery. The sprawling complex north of Tucson provides climate-change researchers unique opportunities to test theories in ways that would be impossible in the field.

Karletta Chief in San Juan River

Karletta Chief Receives AGU Ambassador Award and Conferred Fellowship

Karletta Chief, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist in the University of Arizona Department of Environmental Science and Principal Investigator for the NSF-NRT “Indige-FEWSS” program, is one of 36 American Geophysical Union honorees this year, receiving the AGU Ambassador Award and a conferred fellowship.

Planting Forests and Why It Won't Solve Climate Change

Forests play a significant function in environmental change. The demolition and debasement of woods add to the issue through the arrival of CO2. Yet, the planting of new forests can help relieve environmental change by eliminating CO2 from the air. Joined with the sun’s energy, the captured carbon is changed over into trunks, branches, roots, and leaves through the cycle of photosynthesis.

group of people holding produce

Indige-FEWSS partners with the Navajo Nation in COVID-19 response

The relationships developed through the Indige-FEWSS partnership with Diné College and Navajo communities has allowed UArizona faculty and students to provide expert advice, technology and donations to support Navajo resiliece during the pandemic.

How a rare squirrel could reveal changes in a forest ecosystem damaged by wildfire

There was a crunch with every step Melissa Merrick took as she veered farther off trail. She wasn't looking at the leaves littering the ground, but at the branches they fell from.

OU researchers looking to use wastewater to stop spread of COVID-19

University of Oklahoma researchers are working to slow the spread of COVID-19 with a unique approach -- using wastewater.

UArizona Expert on Climate Science and Policy Selected as AAAS Fellow

Gregg Garfin joins a roster of nearly 500 AAAS members honored for their lifetime efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.

Daniel Casanova standing in front of a canyon

Daniel Casanova: Planning for a Better Future

Sophomore Daniel Casanova, talks about how is outside activism and his UArizona education are preparing him for a future of combatting the climate crisis.

Center For Biological Diversity Sues To Protect Mount Graham Red Squirrel

The Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity has sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the endangered Mount Graham red squirrel.

Planning Professor Ladd Keith On Heat As An Emerging Climate Risk For Urban, Low-Income Communities

If Aridification Choked the Southwest for Thousands of Years, What Does The Future Hold?

Great Basin Caves tell a story linking climate change to a “worst-case scenario,” with potential impact on 56 million western water users.