University of Arizona in the News

The work of University of Arizona Professor Michael Worobey, head of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, has taken him into dangerous jungles and raging scientific controversies. This profile centers largely on his research into the origins of COVID-19.

A University of Arizona-led forecast predicts an above-average hurricane season this year. Working off a model built by professor of hydrology and atmospheric sciences Xubin Zeng, researchers expect nine named storms to develop, five of them major.

It's been almost a year and a half since the James Webb Space Telescope was launched, and scientists continue to be amazed by the images it's sending back and discoveries they have been able to make. University of Arizona Regents Professor of Astronomy Marcia Rieke, the principal investigator on Webb's Near-Infrared Camera, discusses researchers' remarkable results so far.

The American Institute of Architects and the American Library Association on Tuesday named the University of Arizona Student Success District one of five winners of the 2023 Library Building Awards. The annual award honors "the best in library architecture and design."

University of Arizona associate professor of Judaic studies Gil Ribak discusses the life of Thomas LaRue Jones – "The Black Cantor" – an African American tenor who sang Jewish music in the early decades of the 20th Century.

This story reflects on the contributions to entomology, and science in general, made by University of Arizona researcher Justin Schmidt, known widely as "The King of Sting" for his development of the Schmidt Pain Index, the only scientific rating system classifying the pain inflicted by stinging insects.

University of Arizona Health Sciences has come a long way since the College of Medicine's founding in 1967 and is uniquely poised to help address Arizona's long-term health care needs, President Robert C. Robbins said in a presentation to the Arizona Board of Regents.

"The Linda McCartney Retrospective" which includes nearly 200 pieces from the renowned photographer's 30-year career, celebrates her friendships with famous people, her love of the desert and her connection to Tucson, runs through Aug. 5 at the University of Arizona Center for Creative Photography. "We love a Tucson story," CCP chief curator Rebecca Senf said recently, "and we had an opportunity to show the inspiration a University of Arizona student had on photography."

Efforts to develop a cure for Valley fever could involve the use of live attenuated vaccines, which elicit a robust immune response – including T-cells – but also run the risk of replicating uncontrollably in people with compromised immune systems. Preventing that is now possible, said John Galgiani, an infectious disease doctor who directs the Valley Fever Center for Excellence at the University of Arizona. In 2016, a team led by his colleague Marc Orbach published a method for snipping out the gene that controls Valley fever's ability to multiply.

The Colorado River supports $1.4 trillion in annual economic output in the U.S. and 16 million jobs in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming – equivalent to about 1/12 of the total U.S. domestic product, economists at the University of Arizona found in 2015.