Science and Research 2014 by Arizona Daily Sun

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Creating a new discovering a new That is the definition of Science. Lowell Observatory has overlooked Finding better ways to solve downtown Flagstaff from Mars Hill for 120 years, part of this wonderful

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SCIENCE & RESEARCH 2014

SCIENCE RESEARCH 2014 Editor’s Notes I

n the last few years, I have realized that it is possible I am the father to a science kid. My daughter, who turned 6 this year, has an eyes-wide-open fascination with the observable world. To satisfy her voracious curiosity, we have enrolled her in Museum of Northern Arizona day camps — such as one to learn about dinosaurs and another to learn about predators — and have taken her to the Lowell Observatory Tykes Camp. We also have worked to keep up with her interest in prehistoric creatures, outer space, how the human body works and, most notably, the many animals of the world. Birding at our house is not just about looking at all the pretty feather things that flock to the feeder, but looking them up in the book and noting their names and some of their facts. My 3-year-old son has gotten in on the action, as well, having the knowledge to identify a Stellar’s Jay from a bluebird. Having children in the house who are working to gain knowledge of the perceptible world becomes an important reminder of

the value of both science and research. And we find ourselves deeply fortunate to live in a town such as Flagstaff, where institutions such as Lowell Observatory, Northern Arizona University, the Museum of Northern Arizona, the Arboretum at Flagstaff, Willow Bend Environmental Education Center and more are out there providing education and outreach. With the arrival of the annual Festival of Science, the doors open to even more science and research institutions in Flagstaff that show us how overwhelmingly remarkable the scientific community is in our mountain town. And, along these lines, we also take a closer look at what is happening on these fronts in our Science & Research 2014 special edition to the Arizona Daily Sun. Please take the time to get to know some of the great science, research and projects happening as shared here to get a taste of the remarkable investigations that originate from our community.

Table of Contents 2

Stemcity

Tracking the changes

EcoNA Inspired

NACET/ECONA

Senestech

Lowell Observatory

T-Gen North

10-16 19-23 Seth Muller Special Sections Editor

Science and research locally has turned more attention to climate change.

Northern Arizona University Flagstaff Medical Center Flagstaff Festival of Science

SCIENCE & RESEARCH 2014

TRACKING the CHANGES

hen the Slide Fire erupted in Oak Creek Canyon in late May, it ushered the start of a frightening fire season fueled by one of the driest winters on record,

an already persistent long-term drought and past practices of fire suppression that has increased forest fuel loads that lead to larger and sometimes catastrophic wildland fires.

SCIENCE & RESEARCH 2014

As smoke dimmed the Flagstaff skies to a jaundiced haze and ash snowed from the sky, the questions of what brought the several-thousand-acre fire—aside from the human-caused start—lingered in the air. Is this another fire that can be linked back to climate change? Could it be another harbinger of drastic changes to come? Causation of any single wildland fire carries a complex web of possibilities, from the actual beginning of the blaze, to the past practices of fire management, to the

Science and research locally has turned more attention to climate change.

By the Staff

wind pattern and heat on a particular day. But researchers are discovering stronger evidence that the climate crisis is helping fuel more and larger fires. A recent book, “Assessment of Climate Change in the Southwest United States,” was assembled by dozens of experts and aimed at policymakers in an attempt to summarize what is known and what is estimated to happen next. Among the predictions and findings in the book were that a 1.8-degree increase in temperatures could drive a 380 percent increase in the amount of area burned by wildfires in the mountains of Arizona and New Mexico — and wildfire seasons are likely to become longer. Also noted in the book: aspen are dying en masse, for a collection of reasons (pests, disease, drought) and sites below 7,500 feet in elevation saw a 95 percent die-off from 2000 to 2007; more than 12 percent of the Southwest’s forest trees have died off since 1997 as the result of bark-beetle outbreaks — with the beetles having a longer breeding and eating season due to milder winters; and heat waves will become more intense and frequent. Neil Cobb is director of NAU’s MerriamPowell Center for Environmental Research, and he has studied the pinyon-juniper dieoff that occurred near Flagstaff in 2002 and 2003. He said that about 16 percent of the Southwest’s forests have had “massive” mortality in recent years — 25 to 75 percent of the trees in a stand are dead, he said. “As it gets warmer and the likelihood of extreme events increases, yes, we definitely Tracking the Change continued on page 17

INNOVATION

Inspired Innovation at a Higher Elevation In Flagstaff, the next great idea may strike on a hike near the San Francisco Peaks.

The next ground-breaking discovery may be inspired by the golden glory of our aspen trees in the fall. And the seeds for our foremost achievements may be planted by the sun that beams down upon our pristine mountain community year-round. Our region’s rural splendor has been inspiring breakthroughs in science and technology for more than 100 years. It was here on the mountaintop that scientists discovered Pluto. Explored Mars and the Moon. Made inroads to pathogen genomics and other breakthroughs in bioscience that put our city on the map as a hub for innovation. Inspired innovation at a higher elevation. Flagstaff – a destination where great minds come to live, work, play, and leave their mark on the world as they see it from 7,000 feet. Improving lives across the globe – now, here, today.

www.cityofinnovation.com

SCIENCE & RESEARCH 2014

Recent Milestones August 2013

Creating a new paradigm… discovering a new technology. That is the definition of Science. Finding better ways to solve existing problems. At SenesTech, we have done just that. We have taken on the global issue of pest management and attacked the root cause of the problem: reproduction. We are humanely managing rodent populations and allowing the animals and humans to coexist in a much better manner. A unique solution to a pressing problem. Accomplished right here in Flagstaff.

3140 Caden Court www.senestech.com 928-770-4143

• New York field study with the Mass Transit Authority (MTA) funded by a $1 million National Institutes of Health Small Business in Research (SBIR) Grant.

Spring/Summer 2014 • City of Somerville Integrated Pest Management started May 2014. • The second phase of the New York field study with the MTA (10 sites) starting in June 2014. • Agricultural pig farm study with the world’s largest pork producer to start in June 2014.

Advancing Science and Technology in Flagstaff. SCIENCE & RESEARCH 2014

A Private Non-Profit Research Institution Committed to Excellence in Research & Education Lowell Observatory has overlooked downtown Flagstaff from Mars Hill for 120 years, and we are delighted to be part of this wonderful community. Lowell’s mission is to conduct research in astronomy and planetary science, and to communicate the results of our research to the public. Our growing team now numbers nearly 100, including our astronomers, research scientists, engineers and instrument technicians, educators, fundraisers, and operations and facilities staff. The recent completion of our $53M, 4.3-meter Discovery Channel Telescope (pictured) has positioned us for many more decades of world-class research and outreach, and there could be no better place for this than Flagstaff, the World’s First International Dark-Sky City and America’s First STEM Community. With our many local collaborators and colleagues – US Naval Observatory, NAU, USGS, the Symphony, the Museum of Northern Arizona, the Arboretum, FUSD and our charter schools, the City and the County, and more – we look forward to all the exciting things to come.

Jeffrey Hall r, Directo Lowell Observatory

www.lowell.edu • 1400 W Mars Hill Rd, Flagstaff, AZ • (982) 774-3358 8

SCIENCE & RESEARCH 2014

Taking on Valley Fever The science behind the search

An inhaled fungus commonly found in the soils of the desert Southwest result in nearly 150,000 cases of Valley Fever each year. Most cases are mild or cause walking pneumonia. But hundreds of patients will see Valley Fever spread to their skin, bones, spinal cord or brain. And, unfortunately, dozens of Arizona’s die each year. Dr. Bridget Barker, Assistant Professor of TGen North’s Center for Fungal Pathogens, is working with researchers at Northern Arizona University,

University of Arizona, and the Valley Fever Center for Excellence, to develop a better understanding of this disease, how to detect it, and how to treat it. At TGen, we want to make it easier for doctors to diagnose and treat this deadly disease. Scientists in our Pathogen Genomics Division — TGen North — located in the Flagstaff Airport Business Park, are working to develop new tests and treatments for Valley Fever.

For more information on TGen North, please visit our website at tgennorth.org.

SCIENCE & RESEARCH 2014

NAU Research Nurtures Big Ideas With Broad Impacts “An important role for a university is to nurture big ideas with broad impact,” says Northern Arizona University (NAU) President John Haeger. As these articles demonstrate, this is a mandate that NAU faculty and staff have taken to heart—from focusing on climate science research and training to developing NAU’s informatics capabilities, transferring cutting-edge research results from the university to the private sector, and partnering with community members to create a biomedical corridor that connects the Flagstaff region with other participating regions throughout the state. “We have taken seriously the message from the Arizona Board of Regents and President Haeger to become more competitive in developing research capacity, promoting economic development, and training a cutting-edge workforce of the future,” says Bill Grabe, NAU Vice President for Research. 10

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NAU: A Leader in Climate-Science Research Northern Arizona University’s focus on

climate-science research is one way that the university has demonstrated its relevance to the major issues of today. From the work of individual researchers and interdisciplinary centers and partnerships to the creation of the Professional Science Master’s program in Climate Science & Solutions, NAU has demonstrated its leadership in the field. NAU’s climate-science initiatives are local, regional, and global in scope, and their impact is far-reaching. The focus of these initiatives encompasses forests, arctic lakes, and deserts as well as carbon cycles, sea-level rise, biodiversity loss, and many other research interests. NAU researchers have made important contributions to world-wide efforts to protect the environment—from

being active in the Past Global Changes (PAGES) project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program to helping to preserve a world heritage site in a Central American rainforest. NAU’s administration has also demonstrated its commitment to sustainability. In 2007, NAU President Haeger became a charter signatory of the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment—a group that encourages institutions of higher learning to model ways to minimize globalwarming emissions and to provide knowledge and the educated graduates needed to lead sustainability efforts. President Haeger has set a goal for NAU to be carbon neutral by 2020. NAU’s Office of Sustainability implements initiatives that help support this goal.

NAU Professor Studies Climate Data in the Alaskan Arctic

Members of the 2014 Alaskan arctic research team depicted here are, from left to right, Jason Briner, Darrell Kaufman, Elizabeth Ceperly, and David Fortin. Photo: Ryan Belnap, NAU IDEA Lab.

NAU Regents Professor and earth scientist Darrell Kaufman travels to Alaska to collect lake sediment samples to study how climate has changed in the distant past. This information sheds light on what may be in store for Earth in the years to come. Dr. Kaufman’s research is highlighted in NAU’s 2014 IDEA Lab film, Taking Earth’s Temperature: Delving into Climate’s Past. (http://www.takingearthstemperature.org/)

NAU Research Centers Advance Environmental Science • The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (Ecoss) seeks to understand ecosystems, how and why they change, and their role in shaping the Earth’s future. “Our research probes the biology, chemistry, and geology of the biosphere, bringing tools and perspectives from ecosystem science to the ecology of the integrated earth,” says Ecoss Director Bruce Hungate, NAU Professor of Biological Sciences. In May 2014, Science magazine published a study that reported that increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere cause soil microbes to produce more carbon dioxide, accelerating climate change. Until now, the accepted belief was that carbon is stored in wood and soil for a long time, slowing climate change. “Our findings mean that nature is not as efficient in slowing global warming as we previously thought,” said Kees Jan van Groenigen, Ecoss research fellow and lead author of the study. “By overlooking this effect of increased CO2 on soil microbes, models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change may have overestimated the potential of soil to store carbon and mitigate the greenhouse effect.”

• The Ecological Restoration Institute (ERI) leads research, scholarship, education, technical support, and collaborative efforts to prevent wildfires and to plan and implement restoration treatments for frequent-fire and woodland landscapes throughout the American West. In May 2013, ERI published “A Full Cost Accounting of the 2010 Schultz Fire.” The study examined the 2010 Schultz Fire and resulting flooding and estimated that the financial impact was between $133 million and $147 million. The research also determined that had the area’s forest undergone thinning of small diameter trees prior to the fire, the impact of the fire would have been lessened.

• The Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research (MPCER) promotes cross-disciplinary research and education to understand critical environmental processes and the implications of change resulting from human activities. Through its efforts, MPCER is helping to create the scientific knowledge and understanding needed to address significant environmental challenges, including climate change and biodiversity loss. In 2012 and 2013, The National Science Foundation awarded NAU grants to create a system of gardens along the elevation gradient of northern Arizona called the Southwest Experimental Garden Array (SEGA) and to support the development of

applications and software to gather and analyze data created by this genetics-based, climatechange research facility. “The ability to gather and analyze the vast amount of data . . . is the basis for a new wave of understanding about the response of individual plant species, genes, and communities to climate change,” said MPCER Executive Director and NAU Regents Professor Thomas Whitham. “This understanding will allow us to identify superior genetic lines and populations that can best cope with climate change and other related challenges.”

• The Institute for Sustainable Energy Solutions (ISES) advances sustainable energy systems through research that expands the understanding and use of renewable energy systems and resources. “We work to be at the cutting edge in exploring the possibilities for a renewable energy future and directing society to make these a reality,” says Tom Acker, ISES Director and Professor, Mechanical Engineering. As an example of ISES’ research, Dr. Michael Shafer is working on a project using big data to optimize controls across wind farms – essentially, making wind energy easier for utilities to use. The improved management of variable electricity generation from renewable resources like wind and solar is a focal area for ISES and a key driver for electric utilities as they look for tools to integrate more renewables and reduce their climate-change impacts.

• The Landscape Conservation Initiative (LCI) forges new solutions to environmental challenges through a three-pronged approach: applied biological research, collaborative planning, and fieldbased educational experiences. LCI provides scientific and community leadership for addressing emerging broad-scale conservation and environmental challenges in the Grand Canyon region and across the West. In January 2014, Park Science published “Cars and Canyons: Understanding Roadside Impacts of Automobile Pollution in Grand Canyon National Park.” The article was written by Julie Kenkel, a graduate of NAU’s Environmental Science and Policy Master of Science program. It was based on her thesis work as a member of LCI.

• The Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) supports the protection of Native American natural resources through education and training that helps to increase tribal environmental capacity and strengthen tribal sovereignty. Areas of focus include, but are not limited to, air quality, clean energy development, and climate change. In May 2014, ITEP and the National Tribal Air Association co-sponsored the National Tribal Forum on Air Quality, which gave tribes, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other organizations an opportunity to meet, exchange ideas, and discuss current policies, regulatory initiatives, funding, and technical air-quality topics.

Preparing NAU for a Leading Role in a DataIntensive World Imagine this: you’re sitting at your computer looking

at a pair of shoes on a popular online shopping website. Twenty minutes later, you see an advertisement for the exact same pair of shoes while visiting a different site. The retailer has paid a savvy advertiser to process a huge dataset comprised of page views and clicks from millions of users around the world to deliver an advertisement targeted specifically to your taste based on your browsing history. That same dataset houses a wealth of information that can tell the retailer which shoes are selling well, which ones are receiving a lot of attention despite low sales numbers—even which demographics visit the site and from where. The information is there, but due to the sheer enormity of the amount of data involved, the retailer needs the expertise of the advertiser to organize and analyze it in order to derive significance that can inform a smart marketing strategy. The management, analysis, and interpretation of those large datasets is just one practical application of the revolutionary field of informatics. Informatics has been quietly taking over the private sector for years—popular examples one might encounter in everyday life include the above-mentioned smart advertising service Google AdSense and Pandora, a “Music Genome Project” which applies computing, statistics, and machine learning to develop music recommendation systems that learn users’ preferences and develop complex automatically-generated musical taxonomies. The thread of data-intensive research now runs deep in a wide range of academic disciplines as well, in areasas diverse as music, health sciences, and education. Applications of informatics in the sciences have been widely-publicized through high-profile projects like the Human Genome Project. Areas such as Climate Science, Bioinformatics, Biodiversity studies, Astrophysics, and Geology all rely on high-volume computer-driven data collection mechanisms, large-scale data management tools, and complex computational analysis to generate new scientific insights. Linguistic informatics uses computational analysis and

SCIENCE & RESEARCH 2014

The Southwestern Experimental Garden Array (SEGA) is just one project to use informatics to enhance research on the effects of climate change on plants, plant communities, and ecosystems. Photo: Monica Saaty, NAU IDEA Lab

statistics in order to decipher previously unreadable ancient scripts, and applies computational analysis to reveal new insights in massive online corpuses of data. These are just examples of the comprehensive changes that informatics has brought to nearly every discipline on the campus and every sphere of the national economy. Rapidlyfalling computational costs, an increase in high volume data sources, and ubiquitous networking have sparked an “Information Revolution” which has enabled fundamentally new approaches to scientific investigation and progress in nearly every discipline. “With recent advances in data storage technology and falling computer costs, more and

more research is becoming data-driven,” says Bill Grabe, Vice President for Research at NAU. “It’s not enough to be an expert in your field anymore—you’ve got to know how to manage these huge datasets as well.” To meet the growing demand for informatics expertise at Northern Arizona University, Vice President Grabe has spent the past couple of years developing the foundation for a strong campuswide Informatics and Computing Program (ICP). The progressive program will focus on supporting existing research strengths, preparing new students for a data-intensive research climate, and establishing NAU as a strong contributor in applied informatics. Through the ICP, researchers at NAU will be able

Paul Flikkema, Professor of Electrical Engineering at NAU, has been appointed as Director for the new Informatics and Computing Program. “I’m very excited to embark on this new project,” he says. “ICP research will address emerging challenges in science, engineering, and other disciplines that involve extremely large datasets and high-performance networked computation in the context of 21st-century challenges.”

to collaborate with informaticists in designing automated and computer-driven data collection mechanisms; managing, compiling, and filtering data; developing software tools and algorithms for performing complex analyses; efficiently displaying and sharing results; and organizing the work of research communities. “Informatics is quickly becoming an integral element of the research landscape,” says Grabe. “The creation of the Informatics and Computing Program is a timely investment which ensures that our researchers and graduates will have the skills and resources they need to stay abreast of the competition.” The university has made significant progress this year on a multi-phased, long-term development plan for ICP with the acquisition of essential research capacity in the HighPerformance Computing Cluster Monsoon, the targeted hiring of informatics faculty, and most recently, the appointment of Paul Flikkema, Professor of Electrical Engineering at NAU, as the new program’s director. A self-proclaimed “passionate advocate of interdisciplinary research,” Flikkema is well-suited to meeting the program’s goal of deepening the understanding of informatics across disciplines. He aims to ensure that researchers all across campus are familiar with computational concepts, algorithms, and techniques and how they might be applied to solve a problem. “Progress in solving many of today’s problems will require the integration of interdisciplinary research and informatics. I’ve been very fortunate to work with faculty at NAU and other institutions, including ecologists, statisticians, and computer scientists,” says Flikkema, whose most recent work on the Southwest Experimental Garden Array (SEGA) combines networked wireless sensing, databases, data visualization, and “middleware” networking software with key advances in ecological genetics and genomics. “I see informatics as core to advances in a wide range of problems, and am very excited to be part of this new initiative.” According to Vice President Grabe, the ICP will spark a research culture shift at the university that will carry over into Flagstaff and the rest of Northern Arizona in the form of economic stimulation. Grabe points out that in a recent book, The New Geography of Jobs, (2012), Enrico Moretti argues that high tech clusters and high paying jobs emerge in locations with specific capacities: some initial high tech companies, a growing density of a highly skilled informatics workforce, and new opportunities for new tech company development. “The Informatics program and the graduating BS and MS student workforce can create a powerful magnet to attract new high tech business and energize existing businesses in our community.” “The ICP will bolster our existing research strengths and position us as a leader in an innovative field that’s quickly penetrating nearly every discipline. Flagstaff will be prepared for a data-intensive future,” says Vice President Grabe. “This is an incredible milestone for the university’s research enterprise.”

High-Performance Computing at NAU Yields High-Level Research This spring, the NAU Office of

the Vice President for Research announced the acquisition of a new high-performance computing (HPC) cluster. Named Monsoon as a nod to Arizona’s heavy summer rains, the new cluster brings a flood of research capacity to the university. “This is a huge step forward in our goal to expand research capacity at NAU,” says Bill Grabe, Vice President for Research. He notes that access to the cluster will foster a blossoming bigdata research culture at the university: “Monsoon provides high-speed data transmission and high-capacity computing—two things we didn’t have before at the scale of the cluster computer. This will allow faculty to run bigger data analysis projects than ever before.” “Monsoon is a capacity-type computer cluster designed to be flexible and handle a diverse set of research requirements,” explains Christopher Coffey, who was hired earlier this year to design, configure, and manage the cluster. “It has a low latency, high bandwidth interconnect, enabling it to excel at both batch and parallel processing. It’s capable of 8 teraflops and has 200 times the CPUs and 1,250 times the memory of your typical desktop computer. Any research project that requires a large number of CPUs and memory can benefit.” The cluster is already being used to address complex research questions across many disciplines, including biology, climate science, behavioral sciences, humanities, education, genetics, and astronomy. After just one month, Coffey says, Monsoon is maintaining an average of 74% sustained utilization of CPU resources.

Interest is clearly high: Since beta testing began in early April, more than 8,250 jobs have been run on Monsoon. Astrophysicist David Trilling is the first NAU researcher to submit a manuscript that includes data run on Monsoon. The paper, submitted to the rapid-publication technical journal The Astrophysical Journal Letters, compares predicted versus observed physical properties of a near Earth asteroid—a comparison, Trilling says, that is computationally intense due to the sheer volume of possible values for each of the physical parameters. “These calculations would have taken us at least two weeks on a modest computer in our department, but [they] took us only a few hours on Monsoon,” explains Trilling. “Without Monsoon, we might still be digging through our model predictions, and be a long way from submission and publication.” Remote-sensing ecologist Temuulen “Teki” Sankey is another NAU faculty member whose research is facilitated by the high-computing power of the cluster. In fact, the huge datasets she generates when mapping the croplands of the North American continent through satellite imaging would be nearly impossible to process without such a resource. “This project would have taken 43,000 computer hours on a normal computer,” she says. “With Monsoon, it’ll take 92 hours.” That’s five years of computing time shaved down to four days. Other projects to benefit from the computing power offered by Monsoon are a metagenome pipeline analysis, a human microbiome analysis, Earth system modeling, and a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) comparison across genomes. SCIENCE & RESEARCH 2014

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to Bring Remote Sensing Closer to Home For remote sensing ecologist Temuulen “Teki” Sankey, the acquisition of a low-flying unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) brings high-tech, highresolution imaging closer to home. Sankey, Assistant Research Professor in NAU’s School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, has been studying land use and vegetation through satellite images since earning her PhD from Montana State University in 2006. Remote sensing allows her to observe widespread changes in vegetation over time, track the impact of changing weather patterns on the forest, and estimate the biomass and carbon storage of individual trees. According to Sankey, satellite imaging is ideal for projects with a global or regional scale, such as her ongoing endeavor to map global cropland distribution, but it has its limitations when it comes to representing local details. “NASA offers a wonderful, amazing archive of free satellite images, but the resolution is very coarse—each pixel is 250 x 250 meters,” she explains. “When all of your trees fall into one pixel, there’s not much you can do with it.” The pixels are getting smaller, but fine-resolution data isn’t free—a single image from a satellite sensor or manned aircraft can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Enter Sankey’s UAV. Funded through Arizona’s Technology and Research Initiative Fund (TRIF), the custom-engineered drone is equipped with a unique combination of the latest in hyperspectral cameras and lidarscanning capabilities, each of which gives the low-flying UAV advanced imaging capacity suited to detailed investigation without incurring repetitive costs. The UAV’s hyperspectral sensor offers a 14

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vast improvement in the resolution available through free satellite imaging. Each pixel displays just five centimeters of surface area and 350 spectral bands or colors—more than 40 times the number of bands in a typical satellite image. “With the hyperspectral sensor, you’re really able to see differences in individual plants,” Sankey explains. “You go from ‘I see a lot of green plants’ to ‘I see five different plant species.’” The three-dimensional mapping provided by the UAV’s lidar scanner is also a step up from technologies available on manned vehicles. Flying low to the ground, the UAV’s 32 laser points per square meter can show high resolution details in individual shrubs and herbaceous undergrowth—a feature that’s particularly useful to, say, an ecologist concerned with the change in distribution of a species too fragile or dense to measure from the ground. “The applications of this technology are so varied in so many different fields,” says Sankey. She points to a collaboration with the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) as an example. The project, which explores the effect of widespread thinning and other restoration treatments on 2.4 million hectares of Arizona’s forests, could benefit from the UAV’s ability to generate accurate 3D landscape maps. By mapping before and after heavy snow, Sankey says, her team can estimate how thinning affects snow accumulation in treated versus untreated sections of the forest, which in turn can help hydrologists to more accurately estimate the forests’ water budget. According to Sankey, it’s the novel combination of the two technologies on one vehicle that really represents an interesting opportunity in research and innovation. “I

Assistant Research Professor Temuulen “Teki” Sankey holds a fully functional miniature version of her custom-engineered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The full-sized drone measures six feet across and is equipped with both a hyperspectral camera and a lidar scanner for high-resolution imaging. Photo: Monica Saaty, NAU IDEA Lab.

want to find a way to combine these two very different sets of data,” she says, noting that the university’s new Monsoon cluster will be an invaluable resource for processing the huge amounts of data generated by the UAV.

Data fusion on this scale will be a complex task, but it doesn’t intimidate Sankey. “I want to push the limit. I don’t want to just do what’s easy to do,” she says. “I want to take on new challenges in science.”

NAU Trains Students for Climate-Science Workforce NAU’s Professional Science Master’s Program in Climate Science and Solutions (CSS) is an innovative advanced degree

program that integrates academic coursework, professional management training, and an internship to provide students with a foundation in climate science and the business and professional know-how to excel in their professional careers. “The interdisciplinary program is designed to ensure that CSS graduates have the skills they need to be successful in the growing climate industry,” says Paul Umhoefer, Director of the School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability. Two cohorts—some 30 students with diverse backgrounds—have completed the 18-month program, and another 13 are ready to begin this fall. Two-thirds of the CSS graduates are working in the commercial sector; the balance have taken positions with government and nonprofit organizations. Among them is Annikki Chamberlain, who works in Flagstaff as an Environmental Engineer at SCA Tissue, a 100-percent recycled fibertissue manufacturer. She is also helping to develop an international water footprint standard. “My goal is to apply a science-based approach to the major standards and initiatives driving water management in the private sector,” says Chamberlain. Her footprint work is an outgrowth of her summer CSS internship at the American National Standards Institute.

CSS’s Beginnings CSS was the brainchild of a group of NAU faculty members who wanted to go beyond teaching climate science to preparing students for jobs in climatescience-related industries. George Koch, NAU Professor of Biological Sciences and a member of that group, explains:“Having interacted with relevant industries, we recognized the workforce need for students with skills in greenhouse gas accounting, forest carbon project design and assessment, alternative energy technology, and climate change economics.” In 2009, NAU received a $700,000 grant from the National Science Foundation that kick-started the program. The NAU program is part of a growing national movement of professional science masters (PSM), notes Ramona Mellott, Dean of NAU’s Graduate College. At the

end of 2013, 5,000 students had graduated from more than 300 PSM-affiliated programs. The need for well-equipped STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) professionals in an expanding science-technology field is driving the growth of these programs across the country. Companies have discovered that while most graduates possess an exceptional scientific or mathematical foundation, many lack the workplace skills they need to succeed in business. CSS’s advisory board, which meets each year to review the program’s curriculum, is committed to ensuring CSS continues to meet workforce needs.

Explaining Climate Science to the Public In addition to preparing students for their professional careers, CSS teaches students how to explain climate

science to the public. “Topics in Environmental Discourse” is a required course According to Deborah Huntzinger, Assistant Professor in Climate Science and CSS Graduate Coordinator, the interdisciplinary course teaches students how to listen to other perspectives and find common ground. At the end of each semester, the students lead a public discussion in Flagstaff on a climate-change topic. Past topics have focused on energy needs on the Navajo reservation and how to manage water and land resources in the face of climate change. Discussing climate changes is tricky, notes Holly Yeager, CSS Career Development Coordinator, “because you have a whole spectrum of how people perceive climate change.” Yeager believes that is important to explain the science and regional impact and tell people what they can do about it—and do it all in a way that doesn’t “cause people to lose hope.” SCIENCE & RESEARCH 2014

NAU’s New ‘Health Research Initiatives’ Supports Arizona’s Biomedical Sector Growth In the 21st century, Arizona has emerged as one of the nation’s leaders in the bioscience industry. Between 2002 and 2011, academic bioscience R&D expenditures in Arizona increased by 55% to $452 million, and biomedical jobs here are growing at a rate three times faster than the national average. Over the past few years, Northern Arizona University (NAU) has positioned itself to join the ranks of the state’s research universities and other research performing institutions to support the state’s growing bioscience sector. In 2014, NAU’s resources were enhanced with the establishment of its Health Research Initiatives (HRI) program. “Our goal with HRI is to grow health research efforts at NAU and to strengthen our leadership role in the regional implementation of the Arizona Bioscience Roadmap” says Bill Grabe, NAU’s Vice President for Research. “Recent growth in NIH funding, recent faculty hires in biomedical and related disciplines, and our expanding research partnerships with TGen North, Flinn Foundation, and Flagstaff Medical Center are just some of the resources that NAU brings to the table. We now have the faculty and infrastructure to do something really important.” THRIVE The university’s first step in expanding its focus on healthrelated research was the establishment of the HRI program and the appointment of Dr. Robert Trotter as Associate Vice President for Health Research Initiatives. Bill Grabe says that Trotter, a

Regents’ Professor of Anthropology whose own research focus is in the area of social and behavioral medicine and population healthcare management, was the natural choice. “Bob has a long history of involvement in regional, state-wide and national healthcare research initiatives, and he brings to the table many ongoing relationships with key individuals in clinical healthcare, academia, government, and the community”, says Grabe. Shortly after Trotter’s appointment, NAU formalized its first partnership under the HRI program with Northern Arizona Healthcare (NAH), the parent company of Flagstaff and Verde Valley Medical Centers. Called THRIVE (Translational Health Research Initiative), this partnership was established to encourage and support innovative health research to improve health outcomes for all of the communities across Northern Arizona. THRIVE focuses on the broad areas of translational research, behavioral medicine, health disparities research, biomarkers research, health informatics, precision and personalized medicine, ecological health, and clinical practices and intervention research. Research projects carried out under THRIVE will involve NAU and FMC researchers addressing translational healthcare issues now rising to the forefront as the healthcare industry works through both the expectations and the challenges of the emerging area of population medicine and the restructuring of the US healthcare system. Such opportunities include developing effective practices for chronic disease care, studying behavioral and cultural factors impacting improved healthcare delivery, and clinical research

Hendrik ‘Dirk’ de Heer, PhD, MPH Assistant Professor Department of Physical Therapy and Athletic Training, is just one of NAU’s HRI faculty. Dr. de Heer’s research expertise is in the area of Industrial/Organization and Health Psychology, Public Health, and Community-Based Research and Genomics. All of NAU’s current HRI faculty can be seen at http://nau.edu/hri

studies involving microbiome analyses—just to name a few. All THRIVE research will be outcome-oriented and evidence-based. One THRIVE project,“Shi’Hooghan”(pronounced shiWAN, meaning“My Home”), is designed to help improve transitional care for patients who have returned home to the Navajo reservation after a stay at the Flagstaff Medical Center. This project involves both NAU faculty and students in the development of a mobile device app that will allow hospital staff to link patients with the closest healthcare providers, pharmacies, home healthcare resources, transportation, and other community resources, regardless of the patient’s location in rural Northern Arizona. The project is led by Dr. Mark Carroll of NAH and Dr. John Georgas (NAU) and was funded by the NAH Foundation. Another current THRIVE project was funded by a 2013 Flinn Foundation grant, “Precision Population Health Management: Integrated Paired Proposals for Personalized Transitional Medicine for Native American, Hispanic, and Anglo Populations in Northern Arizona,” awarded to NAU and NAH to study healthcare practices to reduce preventable readmissions of cardiac patients after they have been discharged from the hospital. This project is led by NAH researchers Drs. Mark Carroll and Cynthia Beckett as well as NAU’s Robert Trotter.

NAU’s Health Research Initiative (HRI) is broad in scope—encompassing projects ranging from genomics to geriatrics and from childhood obesity reduction to precision population health management and health promotion. “We are looking to the Northern Arizona community and HRI partners to establish the highest priorities for health care research,” says Robert Trotter, NAU’s Associate Vice President for Health Research Initiatives.

SCIENCE & RESEARCH 2014

“Northern Arizona Healthcare is committed to improving the health of the patients and populations we serve. In partnership with medical practices and health systems in the region, we are working to enhance care practices so that patients and families receive the right care, at the right time, and in the right setting,” says Steve Lewis, M.D., NAH Senior Vice President for Population Health Management. “The THRIVE collaboration represents a unique opportunity to translate evidenced-based learning and innovation into everyday care and service delivery.”

Tracking the Change continued from page 4

Instead, researchers found that the boosted carbon sends soil microbes into overdrive, pumping even more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. “We’ve long thought soils to be a stable, safe place to store carbon, but our results show soil carbon is not as stable as we previously thought,” NAU Biology Professor and study author Bruce Hungate said in a recent press release. Hungate is the director of the university’s new Center for Ecosystem Science and Society. He warned, “We should not be complacent about continued subsidies from nature in slowing climate change.” The study’s lead author was Kees Jan van Groenigen, a research fellow at the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society. He looked at 53 experiments done on forests, grasslands and crop fields across the world examining how extra carbon dioxide impacts plant growth and carbon dioxide produced by microbes, as well as the remaining soil carbon after the experiment. “Our findings mean that nature is not as efficient in slowing global warming as we previously thought,” Groenigen said. “By overlooking this effect of increased CO2 on soil microbes, models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change may have overestimated the potential of soil predict that these massive outbreaks and to store carbon and mitigate the greenhouse die-offs will continue,” Cobb said. That effect.” might mean Flagstaff will no longer be home to mostly ponderosa pine in years to come. In context While area researchers are putting Studies in soil a sharp focus on real-time changes with Along with this, a new study from climate, a group of NAU experts and researchers at Northern Arizona University filmmakers have recently delved into was recently published in the journal understanding more about the Earth’s Science, highlighting increasing evidence climatological history. They created a movie called “Taking that plants and soils won’t store all the carbon dioxide humans pump into the Earth’s Temperature: Delving into Climate’s atmosphere. It’s yet another sign of growing Past,” which is expected to air nationwide concern for the acceleration of global on PBS stations later this year. Created by filmmaking duo Dan Boone and Ryan warming. The common conception has been Belnap, “It’s a movie about delving into past that increased amounts of carbon dioxide climate to inform us about climate present will accelerate plant growth, trapping and climate future,” Belnap said. Added Boone, “It’s about science the leading greenhouse gas in trees and green material through photosynthesis. itself.”

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The film follows climate researchers across the globe on field expeditions — with exhaustive interviews — and benefits from the stunning animation talents of Sedona science-illustrator Victor O. Leshyk, who also provides the narration. The film was written by Flagstaff science and environmental journalist Peter Friederici. Rather than take a political stance or seeking to create a moral high ground, the filmmakers instead follow a narrative founded in fundamental science. “It’s not preaching to the choir,” Boone said. “This particular tack is quite different. This is one of the really unique sides about the film.” The documentary’s premise is that it’s impossible to know where Earth’s climate is headed without knowing where it’s been. NAU geologist Darrell Kaufman is among the film’s main characters.

SCIENCE & RESEARCH 2014

The film trails Kaufman and his colleagues on a dicey mission across the Brooks Range in Alaska in spring to a lake covered in four feet of ice, which the team drills through to take a 20-foot-long mud core. The layers of lake sediment and the amount of ash and plant matter contained inside can tell scientists what the temperature was like across thousands of years. The same detective work is being done on ocean coral, which can give up secrets of ancient El Nino weather patterns that can be tied to tree ring records found in the Pacific Northwest and the drip rates of water forming stalagmites in deep caves.

In one major project, Northern Arizona University recently received a $370,000 grant to develop software and applications that will crunch massive amounts of data generated by the Southwest Experimental Garden Array. The array itself, which takes a look at climate change based on plant genetics, was started in 2012 with a $4 million grant that also came from the National Science Foundation. Prediction and coping “The ability to gather and analyze Still, the focus of research is on the vast amount of data that will result the future with an emphasis on how we from SEGA is the basis for a new wave can predict and cope with the changes. of understanding about the response

of individual plant species, genes and communities to climate change,” Thomas Whitham, executive director of the Merriam-Powell Center said in an NAU news release. He added, “This understanding will allow us to identify superior genetic lines and populations that can best cope with climate change and other related challenges.” Note: Much of the information in this article compiled from recent Arizona Daily Sun news stories by Eric Betz and Cyndy Cole.

SCIENCE & RESEARCH 2014

Research. Commitment. Quality.

Northern Arizona Healthcare participates in life-changing medical research. Committed to staying on the cutting-edge of medical care, Northern Arizona Healthcare participates in numerous research studies, clinical trials and partnerships designed to improve the health of not only our communities, but also patients across the country and around the world. • Heart HealtH – From drug effectiveness to the impact of cultural traditions on heart patients, Northern Arizona Healthcare and the Heart & Vascular Center of Northern Arizona are conducting research and using evidence based practice to make hearts healthier. • tHrIVe – NAH and Northern Arizona University have joined forces to improve health through the Translational Health Research Initiative, or THRIVE. Together, the partners are conducting research focused on the region’s diverse populations in order to impact clinical and behavioral health. • aquatIc tHerapy and parkInson’s patIents – Parkinson’s patients are benefitting from a study by Therapy Services to determine the impact of aquatic therapy on function, joint mobility, balance, gait and pain. Northern Arizona Healthcare is a regional health system providing services through Flagstaff Medical Center, Verde Valley Medical Clinic, Northern Arizona Homecare and Northern Arizona Hospice, The Heart & Vascular Center of Northern Arizona, Cancer Centers of Northern Arizona Healthcare, Fit Kids of Arizona, and Guardian Air.

Samuel Butman, M.D., M.H.A. Director of Medical Research, HVCNA

SCIENCE & RESEARCH 2014

1990-2014

A Grand Adventure!

The Flagstaff Festival of Science Celebrates 25 Years of Discovery!

The 2014 Flagstaff Festival of Science will take you on A Grand Adventure!

september

SUPERNOVA FRIENDS of the FESTIVAL

19~28

Join local scientists and researchers on an awe-inspiring journey as we open laboratory doors, telescope domes and the microscopic world to thousands of youth, families and lifelong learners! We’ll explore prehistoric cultures, ancient volcanoes, medical marvels and deep space as the award-winning Festival celebrates 25 years of discovery!

Inspire, encourage and cultivate the next generation of scientists: Become a Friend of the Festival!

Kenneth and Mary Ellen Mylrea

Shoemaker Keynote Presentation

Through the support of businesses, organizations and individuals, the Flagstaff Festival of Science is able to offer the nation’s longest running science festival completely FREE to northern Arizona residents and visitors each year! And, all Friends of the Festival are eligible for booth space at Science in the Park! SUPERNOVA: $5,000 and up GALACTIC: $2,500–$4,999 STELLAR: $1,000–$2499 PLANETARY: $500–$999 COSMIC: $100–$499 To find out more, email info@scifest.org or visit www.scifest.org

SCIENCE & RESEARCH 2014

with DNA Expert

Dr. Paul Keim Find out how genetics research is changing our world!

Science in the Park Guided Hikes Star Gazing Parties Archaeology Sites Interactive Exhibits Robots & Technology

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85 FREE

events!

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