School of Earth & Sustainability
Integrating physical, biological, and social perspectives on our changing earth: At Northern Arizona University, we train undergraduate and graduate students to be leading researchers and practitioners in geology, environmental sciences, and sustainability, often collaborating across disciplinary boundaries. Our students spend time learning in the field, working on cutting-edge research, and collaborating with agencies.
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Divisions of NAU’s School of Earth & Sustainability
SES teaching in the field
Interdisciplinary SES faculty, graduate students, and alumni take to the river: Field-based learning about geology and policy on the Yampa River
SES in the news
The latest:
Environmental Sciences & Policy alum is first #Cervezas4YourService honoree
Alum Wes Swaffar has forged a unique partnership between the National Forest Foundation, where he is reforestation and partnership director, and Anheuser-Busch. Every purchase of the company's newest brew will go towards reforestation in National Forests across the US. For his work on forest restoration, he's also the company's first #Cervezas4YourService honoree - Congrats Wes! Read more at the Missoulian.
How will riparian ecosystems respond to the future? Maybe the past can tell us.
School of Earth & Sustainability professor Rebecca Best, along with Co-PIs from the Department of Biological Sciences at NAU and the Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research , have received a new NSF grant to study the evolutionary origins and ecological consequences of "flexibility" in the way cottonwood trees at the heart of riparian ecosystems respond to stresses. By investigating the history and future of climate stresses and insect attacks, these professors, postdocs, and students hope to contribute better predictive power…
More news from faculty, students and alumni:
Research highlights Accordion Open
What plants move the fastest in response to a changing climate?
NAU faculty in Biological Sciences and the School of Earth and Sustainability have recently published research showing that plant traits such as plant height and dispersal ability have impacted their ability to move across the landscape in response to 10,000 years of changing climate conditions. How can we know this about the past? Packrat middens! Read the NAU News story or jump straight to the research article.
Recent global warming outpaces climate changes of the past 2,000 years
SES researchers Michael Erb, Nick McKay, and Darrell Kaufman are part of a global effort to bring together all possible data about past climate variability, providing a better baseline to evaluate recent anthropogenic change. Their latest work in Nature Geoscience shows that no matter how you look at it, our current actions are causing exceptionally rapid change. Read the story in NAU News or jump straight to the paper.
Student news Accordion Closed
Environmental Sciences grad awarded best poster at the Society for Freshwater Science
Recent graduate Morgan Andrews (Environmental Sciences 2019) won the award for best poster in the applied research category at the annual national meeting for Freshwater Science in Salt Lake City, Utah, in May. Andrews started researching aquatic ecosystems in her junior year, and was supported by a Hooper Undergraduate Research Award working with Dr. Rebecca Best. She is now an intern with the United States Geological Survey working on salmon population health. See Morgan's Student Spotlight in NAU News.
It's been quite a year: Awards to SES students and faculty!
This year saw honors rain down all over the School, from national and NAU awards to faculty, to NAU, College, and School awards to our graduate and undergraduate students. Congrats to all of you and here's to the year ahead! School of Earth & Sustainability Awards for the 2018-2019 Academic Year Faculty Award for Faculty Excellence in Global Learning - Michael Ort (link) College of the Environment, Forestry, and Natural Sciences Teacher of the Year - Taylor Joyal (link) Geological…
Alumni Accordion Closed
Environmental Sciences & Policy alum is first #Cervezas4YourService honoree
Alum Wes Swaffar has forged a unique partnership between the National Forest Foundation, where he is reforestation and partnership director, and Anheuser-Busch. Every purchase of the company's newest brew will go towards reforestation in National Forests across the US. For his work on forest restoration, he's also the company's first #Cervezas4YourService honoree - Congrats Wes! Read more at the Missoulian.
The Art of Water Wells
NAU Alum Marvin Glotfelty, RG has published a new book on the conservation of groundwater. Available from the National Ground Water Association Press, the book "provides practical information on water wells—covering everything from site selection to design, drilling methods, economics, and more—and is written in a fashion that is understandable, technically accurate, and applicable to real-world situations."
Alumni
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