Insights
Leveraging our desert home
Matt Chew, associate faculty in the Center for Biology and Society, brings students from the fi eld course Novel Ecosystems to Papago Park to identify plants and animals.
Applying Tackling local local challenges, challenges to creating create global global solutions
Matt Chew, associate faculty in the Center for Biology and Society, brings students from the fi eld course Novel Ecosystems to Papago Park to identify plants and animals.
Communities across the world are dealing with the effects of environmental evolution and climate change, including increased heat, changes in weather patterns, issues with water access or other challenges. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is leveraging our desert home to not only research and address local concerns but also become a hub for creating solutions that consider perspectives in the humanities, natural sciences and social sciences. Helping heat-vulnerable communities The Urban Climate Research Center has received $25 million from the U.S. Department of Energy over five years to lead new research and develop solutions for Arizona’s most heat heat-vulnerable. vulnerable. Creating interdisciplinary dialogues dialogs The Desert Humanities Initiative brings together artists, writers, scientists and more to explore and address critical issues in the desert Southwest. Understanding the world around us The Center for Biology and Society is home to both traditional and more collaborative research projects that draw on the interdisciplinary strengths of programs in the history and philosophy of science, environmental sciences and bioethics, policy and law. Empowering future problem-solvers The Sala Lab in the Global Drylands Center gives students hands-on research experience performing field surveys in dryland ecosystems.
A hubplans for urban climate action plans A hub for urban climate action
How you can engage with our efforts
What can we do about decreasing heatcan extremes? What changes in precipitation can we What can we do about decreasing heat extremes? What changes in precipitation we in the with future? Whatstrategies are the tradeoff s associated with certain strategies to mitigate expect in the future? What are the tradeoffexpect s associated certain to mitigate effects of climate change? effects of climate change?
Urban Climate Research seeks to answer these questions delivering The Urban Climate Research Center seeksThe to answer these questions byCenter delivering Whetherby you are able to attend an event, donate to a cause close to your heart or share your own c advancements and urban climate solutions for diverse urban and support can help The College create real-world solutions, facilitate transformative scientific advancements andtransformative urban climatescientifi solutions for diverse urban story, your participation communities and ecosystems, locally, nationally and globally. cross-disciplinary conversations and foster the next generation of climate activists. communities and ecosystems, locally, nationally and globally. “Wemunicipality want to become go-to for every municipality in the U.S. and the world focused “We want to become the go-to place for every in thethe U.S. and place the world focused Support the development of municipal onplans. developing science-based climate action plans. We want to engage with municipalities on developing science-based climate action We want to engage with municipalities climate action plans by donating to the through our science,” said Director Matei Georgescu. through our science,” said Director Matei Georgescu. Urban Climate Research Center fund at
asufoundation.org/ucrc. “Quantifying tradeoffelements s and uncovering synergies are important elements leading to the “Quantifying tradeoffs and uncovering synergies are important leading to the discovery of benefi cial solutions. The scientifi discovery of beneficial solutions. The scientifi c community is necessary to uncover the c community is necessary to uncover the Fund student research trips to Amsterdam, breadth of these impacts.” breadth of these impacts.” Panama, Mexico and more to give them hands-on experience with the Center for Biology and Society at asufoundation.org/biologyandsociety.
Interdisciplinary reflection on the desert Southwest Interdisciplinary reflection on the desert Southwest
Humanities provides Its events hosted by the Desert Humanities provides environmental Desert experiences with the desertenvironmental Southwest. Itsexperiences with the desert LearnSouthwest. about upcoming premise that we and care about our environment through physical premise is that we understand, appreciate and careisabout ourunderstand, environmentappreciate through physical Institute for Humanities Research, including engagement and cultural framing. the Desert Humanities Initiative, at engagement and cultural framing. ihr.asu.edu/events.
The initiative, housed in created the Institute for Humanities Research, has created partnerships The initiative, housed in the Institute for Humanities Research, has partnerships artists, writers, humanists, and community groups to realize projects that among artists, writers, humanists, scientistsamong and community groups to realizescientists projects that invite refl ection andlife new invite reflection and new research on the shared place of our andresearch work. on the shared place of our life and work. initiative Director Jason Bruner hopes to build on the interdisciplinary nature of Desert New initiative Director Jason Bruner hopesNew to build on the interdisciplinary nature of Desert Humanities develop a focus on the critical issue of water and food. Humanities and develop a focus on the critical issue ofand water and food.
Empower student researchers to create and use open geographic data to address worldwide challenges by donating to the YouthMappers Champions Fund at asufoundation.org/youthmappers. Explore more ways The College is leading efforts in environmental evolution and climate change: Institute for Humanities Research • asufoundation.org/ihr Global Drylands Center • asufoundation.org/globaldrylands
@ASUTheCollege
“In the coming thefor Desert Humanities “In the coming year, I want the Desert Humanities Initiativeyear, to beI want a place students, faculty Initiative to be a place for students, faculty and the broaderand community to inquire these complex and interrelated issues, to see and the broader community to inquire into these complex interrelated issues,into to see historical and cultural for contexts and to consider new possibilities for them in their historical and cultural contextsthem and in totheir consider new possibilities more just and desirable futures.” more just and desirable futures.”
Ensuring sustainable futures for drylands Ensuring sustainable futures for drylands Drylands variety of ecosystem services to support nearly Drylands provide a variety of ecosystem services to provide support anearly one third of the diff world’s one third of the world’s human population. They represent erenthuman population. They represent different areas such as deserts, grasslands, savannahs, Mediterranean areas such as deserts, grasslands, savannahs, Mediterranean ecosystems and forests. ecosystems and forests. The Global The Global Drylands Center conducts research and Drylands Center conducts research and education, education, considering perspectives from the physical,considering perspectives from the physical, biological and social sciences as well as the humanities, biological and social sciences as well as the humanities, provide sustainable solutions for living in drylands that provide sustainable solutions for living that in drylands and ensure the future of dryland ecosystems. and ensure the future of dryland ecosystems. Within the center, the Sala Lab examines effects of Within the center, the Sala Lab examines eff ects of change, plant production and global drought climate change, plant production and globalclimate drought As part of the lab, students have the research. As part of the lab, students have research. the opportunity to participate in hands-on research, opportunity to participate in hands-on research, including assisting with ongoing rainfall manipulation including assisting with ongoing rainfall manipulation experiments, vegetation and soil sampling and other experiments, vegetation and soil sampling and other field surveys on drylands in the Southwest.field surveys on drylands in the Southwest.
The Sonoran Desert has been — and is — a place of immense cultural and biological diversity. Yet, we in the desert Southwest are facing many pressing challenges. An enduring drought and diminishing aquifers have already impacted Arizonans, even as Maricopa County remains one of the fastestgrowing urban centers in the U.S. — Jason Bruner,
Director, Desert Humanities