In 2002, the Odyssey probe discovered evidence of past ice on Mars. The U.S. Congress authorized the Iraq War resolution. The Anaheim Angels won the World Series. And in a meadow 15 miles north of Flagstaff, scientists began to monitor and move small plots of soil along a mountain gradient… Read more
Michelle Mack
Helping humanity through climate research
Several NAU professors are part of a global team of climate scientists recently recognized for their service to humanity.
In October, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was awarded the 2022 Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity. The IPCC, a body of the United Nations that won… Read more
Can communities protect themselves by planting less flammable forests?
As increasingly severe wildfires burn more of the North American West each year, how people living there use fuel treatments, such as prescribed burns or planting fire-resistant trees around their homes, can determine how destructive fires will be to communities. The National Science… Read more
NAU’s Kaufman lead author on IPCC global climate change report
Team of NAU paleoclimatologists contribute to major report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, forming scientific underpinnings for negotiations to limit carbon emissions worldwide

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change (IPCC) has just released its latest major assessment report on global climate change, approved by the world’s… Read more
Team awarded $2M NSF grant to teach virtual explorers about permafrost and Arctic climate change
Scientists at Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University, the Arizona Geological Survey at the University of Arizona and the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado Boulder have been awarded almost $2 million from the National Science Foundation to develop a virtual reality teaching tool called Polar Explorer. In this… Read more
Drought affects aspen survival decades later, new NAU study finds
Drought—even in a single year—can leave aspen more vulnerable to insect infestation and other stressors decades later, a new study by NAU researchers found. Aspen trees that were not resilient to drought stayed smaller than others, growing more slowly and succumbing to an outbreak of insects known as aspen leaf miners that have plagued interior Alaska for more than two decades.
The findings, led by research specialist Melissa Boyd and Regents’ professor Michelle Mack of the Center for Ecosystem Science… Read more