University of Arizona in the News

Some experts claim the pro-STEM movement has gutted high school and college humanities programs, but there is some evidence of a post-pandemic revival afoot. A handful of schools have seen a rise in students declaring humanities majors. For example, at the University of Arizona, "applied humanities" is a new, fast-growing department that includes programs in business administration, fashion studies, game studies and public health.

A person gets Valley fever by inhaling fungal spores from soil that's typically kicked up in the air, according to the University of Arizona Valley Fever Center for Excellence.

Three years into the pandemic, the immune systems of the vast majority of humans have learned to recognize SARS-CoV-2 through vaccination, infection or, in many cases, both. New evidence suggests that "hybrid" immunity, the result of both vaccination and a bout of COVID-19, can provide partial protection against reinfection for at least eight months and protection against severe disease or hospitalization for between six months and a year. But the durability of immunity is much more complex than the numbers suggest.

Seven states that depend on the Colorado River for water missed a deadline set by the Department of Interior to come up with a plan on how to stretch their dwindling supplies. California refused to sign the agreement. "I think people would like to believe that we can somehow figure out a way to keep these economic activities, keep our kind of economies and livelihoods, going. But it's going to be a drier future," said Sharon Megdal, director of the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center.

Tucson-based Raytheon Missiles and Defense plans to into new office space at the University of Arizona Tech Park at the Bridges on the city's south side. The defense firm this fall will occupy 14,000 square feet of space at The Refinery.

Scientists have been trying to develop a vaccine for Valley fever since the 1960s. Tests of one candidate in the 1980s didn’t work well. However, in recent years, University of Arizona researchers led by Lisa Shubitz at the Valley Fever Center for Excellence developed a vaccine that's highly effective in dogs. While an approved Valley fever vaccine for humans remains years away, clinical trials may not be far off. "I'm really quite hopeful," said Dr. John Galgiani, director of the Valley Fever Center for Excellence.

As extreme weather and human activity degrade the world's arable land, scientists and developers are looking at new and largely unproven methods to save soil for agriculture. Preliminary data from a five-year trial showed injecting liquid clay into desert fields trapped moisture, resulting in romaine lettuce hearts 21-53% larger on average than romaine grown under the same conditions without clay, said Robert Masson at the University of Arizona Yuma County Cooperative Extension, who grew the plants.

A new study led by University of Arizona assistant professor of psychology and cognitive science Vicky Lai finds when people are in a negative mood, they may be quicker to spot inconsistencies in things they read.

Several virologists published a commentary in mBio that states that all of the evidence to date indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic started naturally when a virus jumped from animals into people. Felicia Goodrum, a professor of immunobiology at the University of Arizona, is one of the authors. She says work with viruses is highly regulated and more regulation could slow down vital research. "The worst case scenario that I fear definitely is that we are going to limit our preparedness and our ability to respond to coming pandemics," Goodrum said.

Tribal nations hold the rights to significant portions of the Colorado River. In the increasing drought, some are showing the way to sustainability. Arizona law incentivizes underground water storage, which replenishes the state's aquifers, by allowing those who do it to sell water credits on the open market to developers and municipalities. "They essentially turned their water rights into a marketable asset," said Sharon Megdal, the director of the University of Arizona's Water Resources Research Center.