University of Arizona in the News

The disruption of many people’s emotional well-being due to the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted mental health professionals and scientists to call for the further development of mental health science and interventions. University of Arizona assistant professor of psychology and cognitive science Jessica Andrews-Hanna co-wrote this article.

A new paleoclimate model finds many favorable windows when Homo sapiens might have survived a migration out of Africa. Jessica Tierney, a paleoclimatologist at the University of Arizona who was not involved with the research, said she found the approach interesting but inconclusive. "Ultimately this is a model, not geology or archaeology," Tierney said. "The mystery remains until you have better and more paleoenvironmental records."

University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins is interviewed about campus COVID–19 mitigation efforts and more.

If a tree fell in an ancient forest, what can it tell scientists today? Perhaps a lot if it was a Ginko tree, the leaves of which, when fossilized, often preserve actual organic matter which may help us better understand ancient climate systems – and the possible future of our warming planet. "The reason scientists look back in the past is to understand what's coming in the future," said Kevin Anchukaitis, a climate researcher at the University of Arizona.

University of Arizona researchers have identified an enzyme they believe to be the key driver behind COVID-19 severity and mortality.

University of Arizona alumna Dana Mathewson enters the Tokyo Paralympic Games as America’s biggest hope for gold in the wheelchair tennis singles.

When the world's newest volcano burst open in the Geldingadalir valley in southwest Iceland, Christopher Hamilton, an associate professor of planetary sciences at the University of Arizona and adjunct professor at the University of Iceland, happened to be in the country on sabbatical. He told 60 Minutes Iceland provided the perfect substitute for the rugged volcanic landscape found on Mars to test the RAVEN drone he developed with a $3 million NASA grant. "The drone has completely revolutionized the way that we do fieldwork," Hamilton said.

The top U.S. public health officials announced this week that all Americans can get a booster shot starting the third week of September. The federal guidance says adults over the age of 18 will be eligible for another dose of Pfizer or Moderna eight months after their second dose.

"Missing in Brooks County," a documentary by filmmakers and University of Arizona School of Theatre, Film & Television faculty Lisa Molomot and Jeff Bemiss, is reviewed.

It is impossible to say how the coronavirus will continue to evolve. Those changes, after all, are a result of random mutations. But there are some fundamental principles that explain why the virus has morphed as it has, principles that could guide our understanding of its ongoing evolution – and what that means for our future with the pathogen.