Making Arizona Articles

Bruce Tabashnik, a Regents Professor of Entomology whose discoveries helped eradicate the invasive pink bollworm from the United States and Mexico, is one of 120 new members elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences.

The project, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Bridgestone, focuses on growing and processing guayule (pronounced why-OO-lee), a hardy, perennial shrub that could be an alternative source of natural rubber.

Maria is a trilingual international student interested in studying the intersection between language and psychology. Her interests in environmental sustainability sparked as she saw the differences between countries’ perspectives towards going green. Working for AIR was her first step into the environmental field and learning more about the climate crisis through her role has made her realize that there’s still hope for people to restore the planet’s health. She’s learned that there are many things we can do to protect our planet both collectively and individually.

Efforts are underway to wean the university off fossil fuels by 2040 or sooner. As a first step toward that goal, the Office of Sustainability is leading the development of the university's first Sustainability and Climate Action Plan.

Isabella Feldmann is a 2022-2023 Earth Grant student who interns at the Sonoran Institute. She explains that Earth Grant has amazing professional development opportunities in the environmental field that allows students to broaden their experiences in the industry! She’s also writing a thesis studying how marine microorganisms out of the Amazon River Plume use organic phosphorus versus manmade inorganic phosphorus as an energy source.