News

A new article coauthored by Robert Varady (Research Professor, Udall Center), Andrea Gerlak (Interim Director and Professor, Udall Center/School of Geography, Development and Environment), and Stephen Mumme (Professor of Political Science, Colorado State University) titled ‘Megadrought’ along border strains US-Mexico water relations featured as the lead article in the July 1st issue of The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization dedicated to sharing expert knowledge for the public good.

On Wednesday, June 23, 2021, University of Arizona President, Dr. Robert C. Robbins met with leadership from the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy (Udall Center) and the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation (Udall Foundation) to sign a renewed cooperative agreement between the University of Arizona and the Udall Foundation.

A team of Udall Center’s collaborators recently implemented a green infrastructure project at a middle school in Nogales, Sonora. This middle school is located in a low income neighborhood that experiences intense flooding and soil erosion. Green infrastructure is likely to mitigate these impacts that disproportionately affect low income neighborhoods in Nogales, which constitutes an environmental justice issue.

The Udall Center welcomes its 32nd cohort of fellows supported by the Udall Center Fellows Program, which provides the recipients’ department with a stipend to cover their teaching responsibilities. This allows the awardees to focus on propelling their policy-related research forward. For more information about the Udall Center Fellows Program, please visit http://udallcenter.arizona.edu/udall-fellows-program.

Adriana Zuniga-Teran, assistant research scientist in the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning and the Udall Center, has been awarded funds to conduct an impact assessment on the Corralitos Landfill in Doña Ana County, NM, approximately 35 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Robert Varady, Research Professor of Environmental Policy and long-time scholar of transboundary waters governance and management, has recently been named a Fellow Member of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA).

Andrea K. Gerlak, University of Arizona research professor in the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy and professor in the School of Geography, Development and Environment, has been named acting director of the Udall Center. Dr. Gerlak replaces Director Christopher Scott as he leaves the university in May to serve as the Maurice K. Goddard Chair in Forestry and Environmental Resource Conservation in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at The Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Gerlak, who holds a PhD in political science from the University, most recently served as the Udall Center’s associate director. Her research focuses on cooperation and conflict around water, including questions of institutional change and adaptation to climate change in river basins and human rights and equity issues in water governance. She is a senior research fellow with the Earth System Governance Project and recently served as a lead author on the Earth Systems Governance Science and Implementation Plan. Additionally, she serves as a co-editor for the Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning and is a member of the editorial board for Anthropocene, a journal addressing the nature, scale and extent of the influence that people have on Earth.

Tucson’s forceful monsoon rains make stormwater management a high priority. But the aridity of the Southwest demands water conservation. Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) meets both of these needs by reducing precipitation-related flooding, pollution, and erosion while allowing for urban water storage. GSI takes a variety of forms in Tucson, including vegetated bioswales, rain barrels, curb cuts, and water retention basins.

Water is interwoven through every aspect of human activity, and is linked to a range of climate change impacts – droughts, intense rainstorms, floods, and sea level rise. A warmer world will bring increasing ecological, social, and economic challenges. What are the solutions? The University of Arizona, with a long history of excellence in water-related research and policy, is helping to build water-related resilience at multiple scales. As conveners of conversations and leaders in finding innovative and collaborative solutions to the world’s most pressing water issues, the Arizona Institutes for Resilience (AIR), the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, and the Water Resources Research Center are excited to host Water Solutions for Our Warmer World, a six-part public webinar series. We invite the community to engage with us in exploring regional water-related challenges and solutions.

Christopher Scott, Udall Center Director in his role as 2020-22 Mountain Chair of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), will coordinate a synthesis workshop on energy transitions in mountain regions. The virtual workshop will be held on three consecutive days, April 7–9, 2021, each day from 7am-9:30am MST (12:00-14:30 Argentina time, 16:00–18:30 Central European time, 19:45–22:15 Nepal time).