The University of Arizona is recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in the science of adaptation to climate change, and associated research and outreach to understand climate change, its observed and potential impacts, and possible responses.
School of Geography and Development
Geography is a science of connections, and this school’s faculty and students map, track and measure the things that tie the world together, from rainfall and forest cover to human cultures and political organizations. Faculty and graduate student research interests range broadly, but several interests relate directly to climate change adaptation; such as the sustainability of cities; climatology and environmental impacts in the American Southwest; landscape ecology and forest restoration; human impacts of global climate change; and remote sensing of fire-induced vegetation change.
The school has five basic research areas that involve various aspects of adaptation:
- Human – Environment Relationships: pursues and innovates diverse approaches to tackle current problems such as disease and the environment and socio-cultural / biophysical dimensions of water
- Critical Human Geography: reflects the theoretical and political transformations in the field of geography that accompanied the social movements of the late 1960s and looks at globalization issues as well as space, representation and identity
- Methodology and Technology: at the heart of every subfield in the school and focuses on areas like remote sensing, integrating GIS, and spatial analysis of human and physical systems
- Regional Development: overlaps with and supports urban planning by focusing on issues around quality of life, regional growth and decline, urban governance, and migration
- Physical Geography: produces knowledge about natural systems especially as they relate to society. Includes topics such as climate variability and change, landscape dynamics, and fire ecology.