Research and Creative Activity News

UArizona Associate Professor in the School of Theatre, Film and Television Michael Mulcahy to debut new climate-focused docuseries, Making Arizona, on Feb. 21, 2024 at UArizona’s award-winning ENR2 building.

Until the turn of the millennium, stormwater had been seen as a nuisance to be removed as quickly as possible. Storms meant flooding, property damage and even potential contamination of the potable water supply by litter, pollution and bacteria. But, where previous decision makers had seen a waste product, a new school of experts saw opportunity.

Faculty members at the University of Arizona are utilizing community-engaged research methods to connect with communities, which, in turn, help identify research priorities, build trusting relationships, uphold self-determination and ultimately generate more accurate information to shape public health solutions, including those focused on water quality.

Assistant Professor of Geography Beth Tellman is one of eight Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy Fellows this year. In this Q&A, Tellman talks about strengthening flood resilience and community rebuilding, using data to address injustices in flood mitigation infrastructure, and promoting a justice-centered approach to environmental challenges.

Zack Guido is the Director of AIR’s International Programs, who unravels the intricate interplay between resilience and adaptability in the face of environmental stressors. In this Q&A, Guido delves into his collaboration with communities to bolster their climate resilience, advocating for the integration of weather and climate information into decision-making processes. He explores the pivotal connection between resilience work and pressing matters of social justice and equity, shedding light on the importance of actively involving marginalized communities in research.

Together with the University of Southern California and the University of Nevada, the University of Arizona is launching the Consortium for Potable Water Reuse to improve water security and water reuse methods in the arid southwestern United States.

Winslow Burleson started his summer with a camping trip 21 feet underwater in the ocean biome at Biosphere 2. He spent the night in an inflatable tent and worked with a robot to collect samples from the ocean.

The start of the 2023 monsoon season also marks the start of the third Southwest Monsoon Fantasy Forecasts game, which brings together amateur forecasters to compete against one another with their monsoon season predictions.

Dr. Corrie Hannah, a research scientist at the University of Arizona’s Arizona Institute for Resilience, is committed to finding solutions to social and environmental challenges prevalent in marginalized communities with limited resources.

Her research has taken her around the world, but its her work here in Tucson that could have an even broader reach. In addition to exploring disaster risk reduction and humanitarian aid, she is also expanding the resources available to historically underfunded scholars tackling climate adaptation research throughout Africa.

The ponderosa pine is one of the most ubiquitous conifer species in western North America. In the American Southwest, winter snowmelt and summer rains play a critical role in ponderosa forests' survival, but the 23-year megadrought may have these semi-arid trees at the end of their rope, according to new research by UArizona scientists.