Research & Academics
Researchers uncover a troubling trend in tropical rainforest biodiversity
Scientists across four continents worked together to create and analyze three-dimensional maps of tropical rainforests throughout the globe. What they found is worrying: three- quarters of rainforests worldwide are suffering from human intervention, endangering thousands of animal species and threatening delicate ecosystems that are crucial to human survival. Campus & Community
Team College Bound: Bridging gaps and opening doors for Arizona families
Team College Bound is a five-lesson curriculum designed to guide the families of first-generation and underserved students through all things enrollment, from admissions and tuition payments to on-campus resources and progression plans. With specialized Indigenous, Spanish and online courses, the program aims to develop accessible checklists, workshops and support networks that demonstrate the transformative value of higher education and help families develop confidence in their ability to navigate university alongside their Lumberjacks. Research & Academics
How an iconic desert tree survives extreme heat—and the unique risk it’s facing now
Even in extreme heat waves, Fremont cottonwood trees can cool themselves through evaporation in their leaves, similar to the way we sweat when we’re hot. It’s how they’ve survived in Arizona and throughout the Southwest. However, this iconic, ecologically important tree needs water to use this cooling mechanism, and both climate change and human use of this critical resource are making water increasingly hard for the trees to access, putting desert forests and all they contribute to the state at risk, according to new research. MORE NEWS Campus & Community
NAU-Yuma social work students celebrate Mexican farmworkers
This winter, more than 20 NAU-Yuma social work students carried on a 30-year tradition by gathering at the San Luis border crossing at the crack of dawn for the Dia del Campesino, or Day of the Farmworker, health and resource fair. To honor and share their appreciation for the local farmworkers who could not travel home for the holidays, these students used donations and organization partnerships to gift these workers essential equipment, comfort items and health resources with an added splash of holiday cheer. Team College Bound: Bridging gaps and opening doors for Arizona families
Team College Bound is a five-lesson curriculum designed to guide the families of first-generation and underserved students through all things enrollment, from admissions and tuition payments to on-campus resources and progression plans. With specialized Indigenous, Spanish and online courses, the program aims to develop accessible checklists, workshops and support networks that demonstrate the transformative value of higher education and help families develop confidence in their ability to navigate university alongside their Lumberjacks. NAU teacher certification partnership program celebrates first graduates
The NAU West Valley Pathways to Teaching program is combating Arizona’s teacher shortage by meeting would-be educators where they are, allowing them to take classes while working. The program celebrates its first cohort of nine graduates this month.