TUCSON, Ariz. — Despite budget cuts, the University of Arizona will "invest serious dollars" in environmental and climate research, top administrators said at a summit on Earth Day.

Featured Research Presentations Christopher Scott Presented on "Adapting to Water Shortages and Changing Climate" patterns and the link between the water and energy supply, as global climate change becomes more of a predominant issue. Connie Woodhouse Presented on "Patterns of North American Drought from Instrumental Tree-Ring Data." Her presentation used tree rings because they can be "very good proxies" for moisture in identifying patterns of drought in North America David Breshears Presented on the correlation between tree mortality and drought. Used the Biosphere 2 facility north of the UA and brought trees from New Mexico to see how they would perform in a simulated drought. With growing climate change more and more trees could be dying, he said. “It’s not a cheery story, but it’s an important one as it’s quite serious and has profound implications.” Julio Betancourt Presented on "Grass Invasions and Altered Wildfire Regimes on the American Deserts," studied desert fires, and looked at buffalo grass in the deserts. “What we actually need is tools to manage the problem,” said Betancourt. He later added, “We need to motivate and inspire the community” to help.

The four-hour summit received support from President Robert Shelton and Provost Meredith Hay, who voiced their commitment to the Institute of the Environment and other departments that contribute to environmental research at the UA.

“We will continue to invest in the endeavor even in this economically difficult time,” Shelton said. “It’s addressing an issue of critical importance to our community.”


















Hay said the university will make a “serious commitment” to moving forward in environmental research.

She said she would not know specifically how much would be added to the budget for the Institute of the Environment until July, which is when the state's fiscal year budget for 2010 will be announced. This year's budget for the institute was $1.35 million, according to Diana Liverman, co-organizer of the summit and the institute's co-director.

"A significant proportion of these funds are redistributed to other departments and units to help with faculty positions, research grants, events and so on,” Liverman said in an e-mail message. She expects a portion of the institute's state funding to decrease next year because it is tied to a state sales tax initiative, she wrote.

The institute gets about $20 million annually in grants and fellowships from federal and private sources for related activities, according to its Web site.

The institute is transitioning to its new name, Institute of the Environment.

In his introduction to the summit, Overpeck said that he wanted to make the UA the top environmental university in the country.

The institute is "faculty driven and one that solves problems in the real world,” said Jonathan Overpeck, a co-organizer of the summit and co-director for the Institute of the Environment.

The institute brings together researchers from UA programs in law, engineering, entrepreneurship, arts and humanities, and numerous sciences, among others.

“I think we already have a top 10 environmental program. We just haven’t marketed it well," Liverman said.

The summit, held April 22 in the Gallagher Theater, featured 38 different presentations ranging from research about red squirrels as ecosystem engineers to the global race for solar silicon. Presenters had five minutes each to explain their research.

“It’s a way to bring university faculty together to share their research in a condensed format," Liverman said.

Hay sees a bigger future for the program. “I would love to see this as a three- or four-day national summit,” she said.