Bees, butterflies and other insects are important plant pollinators in natural ecosystems and agricultural settings. However, pollinator populations have been decreasing in recent decades. Researchers say one factor contributing to the decline is the degradation and loss of their habitat. Northern Arizona University ecologist and conservation biologist Clare Aslan… Read more
College of the Environment, Forestry, and Natural Sciences
NAU biologist collaborates on computational modeling tools to help predict efficacy of cancer drugs
One of the most promising areas of human cancer research is the study of signal transduction, or cell signaling. Communication between and within cells in the body is accomplished through signal transduction, as stimuli generated in one part of an organism travels through the circulatory system and initiates a response in specific target cells. As cells… Read more
NAU planetary scientist named key partner on NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer mission
After a year of preliminary design and several reviews, NASA recently confirmed its Lunar Trailblazer mission will proceed to the final design and build phase. Selected in June 2019 with planned flight system delivery in October 2022, the Lunar Trailblazer mission targets one of the most surprising discoveries of the decade: the presence of water on the Moon.
The mission is a collaboration led by Bethany Ehlmann,… Read more
NAU researchers Nancy Johnson and Laura Huenneke elected as 2020 AAAS Fellows
Northern Arizona University researchers Laura Foster Huenneke and Nancy Collins Johnson have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
This year, 489 members nationwide have been awarded this honor by AAAS because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.
“AAAS Fellows are selected by their peers at the American Association for… Read more
NAU alum authors research into groundwater, an often overlooked, but essential factor in Colorado River management practices
The Colorado River is the seventh-largest river in the United States, and its basin spans seven U.S. and two Mexican states. It currently supplies water to 50 million people with an expected increase of 23 million by 2030. Because it winds its way through several different regions, the policies regulating it are complex,… Read more
New NAU study finds evolutionary processes work at multiple levels to shape whole communities
Evolutionary theory has long held that natural selection largely operates at the level of individuals. Findings from Northern Arizona University researchers, recently published in the Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, suggest that selection can also occur at multiple levels to shape whole communities. This multi-level selection arises from the interactions of key species that cascade to alter communities and ecosystems.
For example, unraveling the evolution of complex forest communities that… Read more