Research & Academics

Sept. 4, 2019

The sun came up again today. I saw it.

So many of the patients who came to Denise McClellan, Jason Pedwaydon and other personal trainers shared that sentiment in some way. Tomorrow wasn’t promised, but they had today. So they were going to make today count.

But they were going to do their best to make good on tomorrow, too.

That was the motivation for 82 participants in a study that looked at how physical activity helped Native American cancer survivors to heal, recover and… Read more

Aug. 26, 2019

As the threat of climate change grows—and with it, the specter of more extreme conditions such as wildfires, droughts and tropical storms—cities throughout the U.S. are developing policies to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases, chiefly carbon dioxide (CO₂). Even though many local governments are committed to these goals, the emissions data they have to work with are often too general to provide a useful baseline and target the most effective policy.

Professor Kevin Gurney of Northern Arizona… Read more

Aug. 22, 2019

Pools of old carbon in the soil of boreal forests historically safe from combustion are being released by more frequent and larger wildfires, a team led by researchers at Northern Arizona University announced in Nature this week. As the climate of these forests in the Northwest Territories of Canada becomes warmer, drier and prone to more frequent fires, the combustion of “legacy carbon,” as the research team calls it, has the potential to shift the global… Read more

Aug. 15, 2019

When Jaime Yazzie began planning her research for her forestry thesis, her adviser asked her what species of trees she wanted to save. They would use a computer simulation to measure the effects of a warming, drying environment, and she needed to select which trees to preserve.

“I was a little shocked,” Yazzie said. “In my mind, they’re one big family. To lose one would be like losing a sibling.”

Yazzie, who is Diné, took a different approach with her… Read more