2023-2024: A Year of Environmental Milestones

May 6, 2024

Environmental research highlights from across the University of Arizona

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Old Main

From public health to conservation to water resources to business, researchers at the University of Arizona have led significant environmental advancements this school year. Let's take a moment to reflect back on just a few of the impactful environmental strides our UArizona community achieved this year.


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Gem and Mineral Museum

 

Alfie Norville Gem & Mineral Museum receives significant collection and commitment for $1.6M endowment

The University of Arizona Alfie Norville Gem & Mineral Museum has been gifted a collection of more than 9,500 micromount specimens and received a $1.6 million commitment to establish an endowment for conservation and education.

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overconsumption

How marketing and business educators can help combat climate change

A new study digs into what marketing faculty members can do to teach the next generation about the impacts of climate change and offers solutions and resources to mitigate harmful effects of climate change.

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IRes staff photo

Indigenous Resilience Center receives $2 million grant from Waverley Street Foundation

The University of Arizona Indigenous Resilience Center will expand its efforts to help tribal communities develop local solutions to climate-related issues thanks to $2 million in funding from the Waverley Street Foundation to support the two-year project "Climate Resilience Through Indigenous Co-Design at the Food, Energy and Water Nexus."

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pexels-francesco-ungaro

'Nature's historians': What clues from coral reefs' past tell us about the future

As corals build reefs, they capture snapshots of the ocean water's chemical signature and preserve them, not unlike a natural "history book." By collecting and analyzing reef samples, scientists can gather clues about past climate conditions.

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View from cockpit

'The future is fungal': Research finds fungi that live in healthy plants are sensitive to climate change

For over a decade, a team of researchers have studied how fungal species adapted across different microenvironments and how they might fare under future climate change.

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Spiny lizard on rock

The pace of climate-driven extinction is accelerating, a UArizona-led study shows

Climate change is causing extinctions at an increasing rate, a study by the University of Arizona researchers shows. They surveyed populations of the Yarrow's spiny lizard in 18 mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona and analyzed the rate of climate-related extinction over time.

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Rafting on a river

Tree rings reveal a new kind of earthquake threat to the Pacific Northwest

Tree rings helped pinpoint a seismic in the Puget Lowlands about 1,000 years ago, revealing the potential for a repeat event to shake the region that is now home to over 4 million people.

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Rainforest Bridge

UArizona announces Lovejoy Center for Bridging Biodiversity, Conservation Science, and Policy

A $5 million gift from the Thomas Lovejoy Amazon Biodiversity Center will establish the Lovejoy Center for Bridging Biodiversity, Conservation Science, and Policy and the Thomas E. Lovejoy Endowed Chair in Biodiversity, Conservation Science, and Policy at the University of Arizona.

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Mónica Ramírez-Andreotta, director of Project Harvest, and a community member examine rainwater collected in a cistern.

From the skies to your roof, what does a raindrop pick up along the way?

To understand what contaminants may exist in harvested rainwater, a University of Arizona-led community partnership, called Project Harvest, has for the past six years collected samples and analyzed them for a variety of contaminants.

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Bubbles under water

UArizona earns seventh top 10 global ranking in water resources

UArizona is ranked No. 2 in the U.S. and No. 8 globally in water resources in ShanghaiRanking's 2023 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, along with a top-five U.S. ranking in geography.