News
For Coal-Digging UA Mining Student, Internship Truly is 'Hands-On'
Danielle Taran’s internships have zigzagged her across Texas and stepped her through the life of a mine – from digging coal to reclaiming land. The first-generation college student played at Carnegie Hall in high school and is now holding her own in a field where men have dominated for centuries.
Generating a Genome to Feed the World: UA-Led Team Decodes African Rice
An international team of scientists led by the UA has sequenced the genome of African rice. The new information could help answer the 9 billion-people question by producing rice that survives better in areas hit hardest by hunger.
Support for UA Native American Grad Students Gets Boost With $2.4M Grant
The UA and three other higher education institutions have united to increase the number of American Indian and Alaska Native students in the STEM fields. The collaboration has just received a $2.4 million grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for the program, which was founded at the UA.
Size and Age of Plants Impact Their Productivity More Than Climate, UA Study Shows
The size and age of plants have more of an impact on their productivity than temperature and precipitation, according to a landmark study by UA professor Brian Enquist and postdoctoral researcher Sean Michaletz. The results have important implications for climate change models.
Brain of World's First Known Predators Discovered
A UA scientist and his colleagues have found the fossilized remains of the brain of the world's earliest known predators, from a time when life teemed in the oceans but had not yet colonized the land. The discovery reveals a brain much simpler than those known in some of the animal's prey and helps answer questions surrounding the evolution of arthropods.
Celebrating Apollo 11 – the UA’s Role in the First Manned Lunar Landing to Space Exploration Today
Since the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory was established in 1960, UA scientists have played a key role in nearly every NASA mission, from the Apollo expeditions to the upcoming OSIRIS-REx mission to an asteroid.
Tiniest Catch: UA Scientists' Fishing Expedition Reveals Viral Diversity in the Sea
Using bacteria as bait, UA scientists caught wild ocean viruses and then deciphered their genomes. They learned that the genetic lines between virus types in nature are less blurred than previously thought.
Meet the Gomphothere: UA Archaeologist Involved in Discovery of Bones of Elephant Ancestor
An ancient ancestor of the elephant, once believed to have disappeared from North America before humans ever arrived there, might actually have roamed the continent longer than previously thought. Archaeologists, including the UA's Vance Holliday, have uncovered the first evidence that gomphotheres were once hunted in North America.
Two UA Optical Sciences Students Picked for Astronaut Scholarship
Benjamin Cromey and Travis Sawyer, undergraduates in the UA optical sciences and engineering program, have been named winners of the 2014 Astronaut Scholarship, an award created by members of the Mercury 7 mission.
