Arid Lands & Resources
One-fifth of the world’s population lives in arid lands, which encompass nearly one-third of the Earth’s total land surface. Arizona Environment facilitates interdisciplinary research and solutions to the complex interactions between ecological, economic and socio-cultural factors that put pressure on arid lands.
The UArizona provides a unique interdisciplinary environment for researchers and students to engage in the study of arid and semi-arid landscapes, and has created a collaborative environment rich in faculty expertise in the physical, biological resource, agricultural and social sciences. Arid Lands research encompasses an array of topics including international development, famine, food security, land use, land degradation, political-ecology, agricultural policy, borderlands issues and urban development. The Arid Lands Resource Sciences graduate program has over 60 affiliated faculty from 19 departments who are committed to enhancing our understanding of arid lands and to find innovative solutions faced by arid lands around the globe.
Research Spotlights in Arid Lands & Resources
Stefanie Hermmann
Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
Hermann investigates techniques for incorporating local land user perspectives in assessing and understanding land degradation in drylands of the developing world.
Learn moreDon Slack
Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
Slack’s work focuses on the cultivation and processing of sorghum in arid regions for use in ethanol production.
Learn moreNeng Fan
Systems and Industrial Engineering
Fan works on sustainable techniques for optimizing the biomass supply chain and feedstock logistics for the production of biofuels and bioproducts made from guar and guayule (a natural rubber suitable for growing in arid environments).
Learn moreWilliam Smith
School of Natural Resources and the Environment
Smith is developing remote sensing techniques and strategies for monitoring the spatiotemporal dynamics of dryland ecosystem structure and function.
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