University of Arizona in the News

A new study reports genetic variations associated with brain development help distinguish dog breeds designed for different physical tasks. Breeds created to fill similar roles – whether rounding up herd animals or flushing hunters' prey – tend to cluster into distinct genetic lineages, which can be characterized by different combinations of behavioral tendencies.

University of Arizona professor of English Ander Monson's new book, "Predator: A Memoir, a Movie, an Obsession," explores his experience during dozens of viewings of the 1980s sci-fi/action film "Predator," along with topics like masculinity, violence, video games, AIDS and the music of Little Richard.

University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins is forming the Presidential Advisory Commission on the Future of Agriculture and Food Production in a Drying Climate to address challenges to agricultural production and food and economic security in the state and around the world. Paul Brierley, executive director of the UArizona Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture and commission chair, is interviewed.

A University of Arizona study released in 2021 revealed many people consider climate change when deciding whether or not to become parents. Participants showed particular concern about over-consumption making resources such as food and water more scarce in the future. Some saw adoption as a more responsible choice. "Adoption was seen as the low-carbon alternative," said Sabrina Helm, an associate professor in the Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences, who led the survey.

New research reveals native peoples of the Americas used fire management practices that buffered the landscape from climate-related conflagrations. While swings between wet and dry years are likely to be more extreme in centuries to come, researchers say they will mirror the past in important ways. "What we're going to see is the same whiplash between wet years that build fuel and dry years that burn, but even more extreme," says University of Arizona dendrochronologist Kevin Anchukaitis, who was not involved in the work.

A lack of doctors entering infectious disease  fellowships – and the ensuing shortage of these specialists – has been a concern for years, with experts pointing to the comparatively low earnings these physicians make as a major disincentive for doctors considering which field to enter. University of Arizona assistant professor of medicine Saman Nematollahi, the associate program director of the university's fellowship, pointed out that throughout the pandemic, ID specialists were not just treating patients.

Scientists around the world are warning governments that will be gathering in Montreal this week for COP15, the United Nations biodiversity summit, to not repeat past mistakes and are urging officials to "avoid trade-offs" between people and conservation needs in a report published Monday in the One Earth Journal.

Richard W. Stoffle, a professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona, writes that Native Hawaiians' beliefs hold that Mauna Loa and other volcanoes are alive, and their eruptions are how the Earth is reborn.

The new documentary "LUTE" – focusing on the life and career of the late Lute Olson, who coached the University of Arizona men's basketball team to four Final Fours and the 1997 national championship – premieres Wednesday on the CBS Sports Network.

Following a wave of protests, the government of China recently relaxed some of its most stringent zero-COVID protocols, and regional authorities trimmed back a slew of requirements for mass testing, quarantine and isolation. "Eventually, just like everyone else on Earth, everyone in China should expect to be infected," said University of Arizona professor of ecology and evolutionary biology Michael Worobey.