University of Arizona in the News

This story profiles the University of Arizona’s School of Mining and Mineral Resources, which opened last fall. "The whole idea of the school came about because the University of Arizona is in a unique position to cross-pollinate mining knowledge with other critical fields. We're known for creating an interdisciplinary center for mining research and education," said Moe Momayez, University of Arizona associate professor of mining and geological engineering.

When University of Arizona students return from holiday break, they'll be able to meet some of their health and wellness needs at the newly renovated Bear Down Gymnasium. The renovation, which is set for completion in January, is the final piece of an $81 million buildout at the UA called the Student Success District. Construction of the massive project, which aims to seamlessly connect students with all of the resources they need to succeed in college and beyond, got underway in early 2019. Three years later, that $81 million has gone toward renovating the old gym – which opens next semester with a restored basketball court, new tutoring rooms, a Campus Health satellite office, and spaces to exercise, among other services – and connecting it with the nearby and newly renovated Main Library and the Albert B. Weaver Science-Engineering Library. The success district also includes a fourth – and brand new – building: the Bartlett Academic Success Center, which is connected to the gym via a pedestrian bridge. It opened last fall and is now the centralized location where students can access academic support resources through Think Tank and SALT tutoring centers, UA Thrive Center, Student Engagement and Career Development, Student Success and Academic Retention.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, the world’s largest and most powerful telescope built to date, successfully blasted into orbit Saturday. The launch marked the long-awaited start of the Webb telescope’s mission. "The more distant something is, the fainter it looks. So the larger the mirror, the fainter the thing you can see," said Marcia Rieke, an astronomer at the University of Arizona and principal investigator of one of Webb’s four main instruments. "The other thing is that the larger the mirror, the finer the detail you can see."

The brightest comet of the year, named "Leonard" after Gregory Leonard, the University of Arizona researcher who discovered it, paid one last visit to Earth's neighborhood this month, before leaving the solar system forever.