Communities, Culture & Engagement
Arizona Environment serves as a hub in a vast knowledge network that focuses on public engagement, collaborative solutions and communications at the community level. Through national, international and regional networks, programs and publications, we support resilient communities and preservation of their cultural and environmental heritage.
UArizona utilizes its network of knowledgeable faculty and staff to help people solve problems and to encourage joint learning between academics and local experts. Knowledge networks such as Arizona Cooperative Extension provide a link between the university and Arizona citizens to help communities across different cultures build thriving, sustainable livelihoods. Training programs at UArizona help educate professionals, decision-makers, volunteers, school children and community members about agriculture, sustainable gardening, water harvesting and reuse, traditional ecological knowledge, and more. We also offer educational programs designed to help teachers convey the principles of environmental science and stewardship to promote scientific literacy in Arizona classrooms.
Research Spotlights in Communities, Culture, & Engagement
Diane Austin
School of Anthropology & Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology
Austin is an applied environmental anthropologist, focusing on community dynamics amid large-scale industrial activity, alternative technologies to address environmental and social problems, environmental policy, and community-based, collaborative research and outreach
Learn moreAndrea Gerlak & Adriana Zuniga-Tera
School of Geography and Development & School of Landscape
Architecture and Planning & Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy
Gerlak and Zuniga-Teran are working together to incorporate social inclusiveness and appropriateness in engineering assessments of green infrastructure to enhance urban resilience.
Stephanie Buechler
School of Geography and Development
Buechler explores gender, livelihoods, and resilience to global climate change in rural, border, and low-income communities.
Learn moreStephanie Russo Carroll
Native Nations Institute
Carroll’s research explores the links between Indigenous governance, data, the environment, and community wellness.
Learn moreRelated Greenfeed
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The Haury Program supports an array of programming to further research, education, and partnerships for socially just solutions to environmental problems.
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Arizona State Museum’s expansive collections are among the most notable resources in the world for research and study of Native peoples of the American Southwest and northern Mexico that cuts across many disciplines, including archaeology, ethnology, ethnohistory, materials science, climate science, and related fields.
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BARA is a unique academic research unit that strives to place anthropology at the service of contemporary society, prepare the next generation of professional anthropologists, advance knowledge of the human condition, and address the pressing issues of local communities.
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CCASS brings together a wealth of expertise at the University of Arizona to support sound management choices in the context of climate change, linking science, information needs of managers, and decision-making.
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CIEHR is a Center of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities Research whose goal of is to partner with rural and urban indigenous communities to build capacity to measure and determine the contribution of environmental exposures to health inequities. It supports efforts to address these threats, including research translation and policy development, and employs a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach.
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The Dean Carter Binational Center supports binational research in the environmental sciences aimed at improving public health in Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico Border, particularly by solving problems at contaminated sites and developing assessment and remediation methodologies that are broadly applicable.
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The Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill is a culturally important 860-acre ecological preserve in Tucson, conducting environmental studies which include physiology, ecology, restoration ecology, and arid lands.
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DSCESU is a UA-based cooperative network of federal, university, and non-governmental agencies studying and managing natural and cultural resources across California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, with emphasis on involving communities and under-represented groups.
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The Drachman Institute is a research and public service unit of the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture dedicated to the environmentally sensitive and resource-conscious development of neighborhoods and communities.
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The USA National Phenology Network uses the Internet to bring together citizen scientists, government agencies, non-profit groups, educators, and students of all ages to monitor the impacts of climate change on plants and animals in the U.S.
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The mission of the Native Nations Institute (NNI) is to assist in the building of capable Native Nations that can effectively pursue and ultimately realize their own political, economic, and community development objectives.
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The Poetry Center has hosted exhibitions, readings, community classes, lectures, and both visual and audio responses to the environment-art movement. The Poetry Center aims to promote poetic literacy and sustain, enrich, and advance a diverse literary culture.
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The Southwest Center seeks to define, illuminate, and present, through research, teaching, and publishing, the character of the Greater Southwest: the heartland of Arizona, New Mexico, Sonora, and Chihuahua, and its peripheries.
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The SW CASC provides objective scientific information, tools, and techniques that land, water, wildlife, and cultural resource managers and other interested parties can apply to anticipate, monitor, and adapt to climate change impacts in the southwestern U.S.
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SWEHSC is composed of scientists from multiple colleges and departments across the University who address environmental health problems associated with the Southwest and investigate the health effects of environmental agents
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Through its Annual Grant and Mini Grant programs, the Green Fund supports sustainability-related projects proposed by any member of the UA community, and encourages collaborations between students, faculty, and staff.
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The Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy sponsors policy-relevant, interdisciplinary research and forums that link scholarship and education to decision making. The center specializes in issues concerning environmental policy, immigration policy of the U.S. and indigenous nations policy.
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WISE offers programs for girls and women ranging from middle school students to professionals, including a conference for middle and high school girls, academic and career preparation programs for college students, mentoring, internships, scholarships, and much more.
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