University of Arizona in the News

The Washington Post Nov. 17, 2023
How to get through the holidays after the death of a loved one

University of Arizona associate professor of psychology Mary-Frances O'Connor discusses the difficulties of grieving for a loved one during the holidays. "Suddenly, every plan that is in place has a hole in it where that person should be," O'Connor said. "The first time, that hole is most apparent because you have no other way of understanding (for example) what a holiday looks like" without that person in it.
GIzmodo Nov. 16, 2023
Chinese rocket's moon collision in 2022 carried mystery object, experts say

A new study shows how a team at the University of Arizona's Space4 Center tracked down a contested piece of space junk that crashed onto the moon and provides an explanation for why it left not one but two craters.
KVOA Nov. 16, 2023
Two students helping discover answers from OSIRIS-REx sample

University of Arizona aerospace engineering graduate researcher Maanyaa Kapur and materials science and aerospace engineering major Zach Purdie served as NASA interns and members of the sample analysis team on the OSIRIS-REx mission, which returned NASA's first ever asteroid sample to earth. Their work to determine the makeup of the material collected from the asteroid Bennu could come in handy if the space rock ever ends up on a collision course with Earth. "Sometime in the very very far future, they think that Bennu could be on a path to collide with Earth. In a situation like that where you have to shoot an asteroid down, you really want to know the physical and thermal quantities to know how it would even break down," Kapur said.
AZ Luminaria Nov. 15, 2023
Native teachers build nations: More Indigenous people are training to be teachers in Arizona

The five-year-old Indigenous Teacher Education Program in the University of Arizona College of Education trains teachers how to support students in Tribal communities while increasing the number of skilled Indigenous teachers in Arizona.
KOLD Nov. 15, 2023
Local professor responds to Fifth National Climate Assessment

University of Arizona professor Kacy Ernst, chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, attended the rollout Wednesday of the fifth National Climate Assessment in Washington, D.C. The release of the report coincides with President Biden's announcement of billions of dollars for climate resilience. "I think it's really exciting to hear there are more resources going to this," she said. "Shoring up some of this infrastructure to have more resilient communities is absolutely essential."
KJZZ Nov. 14, 2023
It turns out, you can die of a broken heart. How grief can impact your physical health

University of Arizona associate professor of psychology Mary-Frances O'Connor discusses her new research that finds grieving the death of a loved one can not only take a mental and emotional toll on people but also negatively impact someone's physical health – specifically in heart function and blood pressure.
The Associated Press Nov. 14, 2023
Two grim reports on global climate efforts highlight increased fossil fuel subsidies, ill health

A new report from the World Resources Institute and other environmental watchdogs finds the international community lacking in 41 of 42 criteria required to mitigate the worst of global warming, and even heading in the wrong direction in six crucial areas. The lone bright spot: Global sales of electric passenger vehicles appear on track to match what's needed. "I am not shocked that at a global scale we are not meeting expectations for reducing emissions," said University of Arizona professor of environmental science Katharine Jacobs, who wasn't part of the report but praised it for being so comprehensive. "We cannot ignore the fact that global commitments to (greenhouse gas) reductions are essentially unenforceable and that a number of major setbacks have taken a toll on our progress."
AZ Luminaria Nov. 14, 2023
Major new UA art museum is planned for 2027 in the heart of Tucson

Olivia Miller, director and curator of exhibitions at the University of Arizona Museum of Art, discusses the planning and construction of a new museum, planned to open in Spring 2027.
NASA News Nov. 14, 2023
Webb Telescope's Marcia Rieke awarded Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific on Saturday recognized the achievements of University of Arizona Regents Professor of Astronomy Marcia Rieke, presenting the principal investigator for the James Webb Space Telescope's Near-Infrared Camera with its most prestigious award, the Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal, at the ASP Awards Gala in Redwood City, California. "I owe a debt of gratitude to my team that made all this possible. I am humbled that I'm on a list that includes the founders of infrared astronomy, Gerry Neugebauer and Frank Low," said Rieke.
Newsweek Nov. 13, 2023
Oil fueled the 'Flower Moon' Osage murders. Now, tribes embrace a clean energy boom

"Killers of the Flower Moon" – director Martin Scorsese's latest epic, based on the nonfiction book by journalist David Grann – tells the true story of a criminal family's murderous theft from Native Americans in Oklahoma a century ago. University of Arizona professor of law Torivio Fodder, manager of the Indigenous Governance Program, describes the extremes of wealth and violence depicted in the film as typical, in many ways, of how native people throughout the 20th century lost control of oil, coal and other resources.