News

A student’s perspective: Finding a way through a PhD

As his doctoral program comes to an end, Matthew Bigler reflects on his time studying water and PFAS in the Environmental Science program.

Newest Environmental Science faculty brings fresh research perspective to land-atmosphere interactions

“There is a large disconnect between the people who work at the leaf level taking samples on the ground and those who are working with satellites looking at one degree by one degree latitude and longitude,” Green said. “So, I am really conscious of bridging both spatial scales to get a full understanding of what is actually happening.”

A Student’s Perspective: The significance of field trips in environmental science education

ENVS graduate student, Ben Yang, shared his experience as the teaching assistant and photographer leading field trips with Dr. Katrina Henry in ENVS430: Environmental Monitoring and Remediation.

Soil science research aims to prevent future pandemics

Dr. Luisa Ikner, Assistant Professor in the Environmental Science Department, is co-leading an investigation with Dr. Marc Verhougstraete of the College of Public Health into how long viruses can survive within soils from various ecosystems.

A Student's Perspective: A Promising Step Towards Sustainable Mining Practices

A Student's Perspective is a new series of first-hand stories written by Environmental Science students about their experience as a student and researcher.

We are thrilled to share our project investigating revegetation technologies for mine reclamation! Our names are Jessica Ledesma and Kamila Murawska-Wlodarczyk, and we are both graduate students in the Environmental Science department and involved in the Center for Environmentally Sustainable Mining (CESM)

UArizona researchers meet with community to share new agriculture research

When farmers in the Southwest U.S. cannot rely on rain for their crops, which is often, they turn to irrigated systems provided by groundwater and rivers. However, major water resource issues recently occurred for Arizona farmers as local groundwater and river levels are hitting all-time lows due to climate change.

As strict water-use restrictions are implemented across the state, the agriculture community is turning to a new University of Arizona research project for solutions.

UArizona's CESM guides state mining industry, regulators with sustainability research

Over six billion dollars worth of nonfuel minerals are produced every year in Arizona alone, ranking it the second-highest U.S. state in the category. To keep mining activity sustainable requires modern technology and industry-leading research — a task University of Arizona’s Center for Environmentally Sustainable Mining (CESM) is tackling.

Directed by Environmental Science associate research professor, Dr. Julie Neilson, CESM leverages industry support to develop research and educational initiatives to enhance the sustainability of mining.

New partnerships to help community college students earn Environmental Science degree at UArizona

There are many paths to earning an Environmental Science degree at the University of Arizona, and transferring from a community college is one that is getting easier thanks to new 2+2 partnerships between College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and southern Arizona community colleges.

“I used to work at a community college and spent a lot of time with those students,” Cowell said. “Through all the hardships they face as non-traditional students, some with families and full-time jobs, the tenacity they have always inspired me. Now I can help them even more by helping to build these programs.”

Environmental Science senior propels career forward with summer internship

One of her favorite parts of the internship was learning how to use ArcGIS Pro, a software product that offers satellite imagery, which Soto and many others use to map changes at mining sites over time. Soto said her time at SRK changed her perspective on her future goals.

“The internship gave me a better idea of what I want to do in the future,” Soto said. “It definitely left me wanting to explore the area more, so I think I will work for a year or two before coming back for graduate school.”

Virtual reality project brings accessibility to environmental field sciences

Dr. Jacqueline “Jackie” Maximillian, a UArizona associate professor of practice in the Environmental Science department, saw an opportunity for a better academic experience for her online research students by using VR technology. She partnered with the Center for Digital Humanities (CDH), earned a grant, and began the project at the beginning of the fall 2022 semester.