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.