News
Environmental variability and global change are discussed more and more frequently in news articles and programs as the general public becomes increasingly aware of the rapid environmental transformations taking place around the world. The Institute of the Environment produces general interest articles about current UA research relevant to the environment, spotlights that chronicle the work of IoE faculty, and other articles, including a series on drought in the Southwest. The most recent articles are listed below. Older articles and links to UA News press releases also are available in the News Archive.
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Antarctica's topography began changing from flat to fjord-filled starting about 34 million years ago, according to a new report from a UA-led team of geoscientists. Knowing when Antarctica's topography started shifting from a flat landscape to one with glaciers, fjords and mountains is important for modeling how the Antarctic ice sheet affects global climate and sea-level rise.
What kinds of institutional settings allow for art-science collaboration? This is one of the questions at the root of an international collaborative study with deep connections to the University of Arizona.
Thin snowpacks coupled with potentially warm temperatures and dry conditions have resource managers in the Southwest concerned for an elevated risk of wildfires in the spring.
As part of a $9 million research contract from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, UA plant sciences professor Judith Brown studies the molecular interactions between a tiny insect and a bacterium that causes citrus greening disease, a threat to commercial and residential citrus growing efforts.
The UA Science and Technology Park seeks to become a laboratory for third-party testing and evaluation of border technologies. It would draw on the University's expertise in engineering, optics, computing and other sciences. "Southern Arizona could be a leading center in the world for development of border technology," said Bruce Wright, UA associate vice president for university research parks.
UA students are installing rainwater-harvesting systems in a class that helps the campus continue to improve its environmental sustainability. Rainwater harvesting also helps control flooding, which erodes streets, and it helps combat the urban heat-island impact.
UA entomologists are joining forces with scientists on the other side of the globe to protect cotton in China from potentially devastating insect pests. Xianchun Li, associate professor of entomology, and Bruce Tabashnik, head of the department of entomology, are partnering with Chinese scientists to combat insect resistance to genetically engineered cotton plants.
The UA's Rod Wing has played a major role in mapping the structure and function of the world's primary cereal crops. Rice is the one that needs our immediate attention, says Wing, director of the Arizona Genomics Institute. Wing will deliver the fourth "Genomics Now" lecture for the UA College of Science this week.
Previously, Comrie has served as UA Graduate College dean and associate vice president for research.