Robert C. Robbins speaks with Professor Sharon Megdal, Director of the Water Resources Research Center at the University of Arizona, about the Colorado River Basin's water crisis and the future of our state. Dr. Megdal explains that our water crisis will not be solved by any one action. It will take a multi-faceted approach beginning with all of us being informed – knowing where our water comes from, knowing who makes water policies and what those policies are, and what we can do in our daily lives to conserve water.

In September 2022 the IRC science committee met in Paris and identified three global grand challenges for the partnership to tackle: “Habitability in our future: What Makes A World Fit For Life, and How to Keep it That Way“, “Preparedness to Planetary Challenges: Climate change and Health” and “Integrated Food-Energy-Water Solutions at Scale”. Since then, all three axes are being actively developed. A recent workshop was organized, from April 25 to 27, 2023, at the Biosphere 2 Center of UArizona to address the third one, with a focus on “Agrivoltaics At Scale” as one such integrated solution for a just and secure future of food, energy, and water.

In the summer of 2020, the Bighorn fire ravaged the Santa Catalina Mountains, burning over 120,000 acres at the edge of Tucson, Arizona. In the wake of such destruction, it was hard to imagine new life emerging from the ashes. But nearly three years later, as green shoots are starting to peek out their heads even in the most burned areas, so too are new ideas blossoming among ecological researchers. Two of them, Dr. Ben Wilder and Dr. Michael Canva, are gleaning innovative research from the disaster.

The France-Arizona Institute promotes collaboration through its Graduate Research Fellowship & International Mobility Award. Each year, the institute funds research projects in which two teams—one from CNRS and the other from the University of Arizona—work together for three years to address a grand challenge. The most recent call for proposals emphasized projects related to environmental resilience, climate change, and health. After reviewing many excellent submissions, the FA Institute selected five recipients.

Since its inauguration in the spring of 2021, the France – Arizona Institute for Global Grand Challenges has sought to foster collaboration between the University of Arizona and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). One such form of collaboration are International Emerging Actions* (IEAs), which explore new fields of research through international collaboration. These two-year projects connect scientific researchers from CNRS with scientists from institutions such as the University of Arizona to initiate joint research projects. Last year three IEA projects were created between CNRS and UArizona.

To our French partners, it’s incroyable. For most Wildcats, our newest voyage into trans-Atlantic science research partnerships is simply “incredible.” The University of Arizona has been chosen as the first formal overseas partner of the top European basic research group, called the French National Center for Scientific Research, or CNRS. In Paris, some scientists call it “the beast,” said UArizona professor Régis Ferrière during a break from teaching ecology and evolutionary biology at a partner site during an assignment in Paris’ Quartier Latin. 

Members of the France-Arizona Institute for Grand Challenges traveled to Washington, D.C., for a “Make Our Planet Great Again” seminar, October 17–18. Hosted by the French Embassy and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), the goal of the two-day conference was to share successes of the MOPGA program and brainstorm future avenues for collaboration between the United States and France.

Last month, the University of Arizona and French heavyweight, the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), met in Paris for the second 2022 conference of the France-Arizona (FA) Institute for Global Grand Challenges. Founded in March 2021, UArizona’s FA Institute is the first CNRS International Research Center.

CentrEau, the Quebec Water Management Research Center, is a Quebec cluster of water experts. It brings together researchers and graduate students from 12 different institutions. It is financed by the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Nature et technologies (FRQNT) as part of the Strategic Clusters program. CentrEau is hosting its 55rd webinar of the Hebd'Eau series entitled « The Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Context of Global Change: The Example of the Western United States ».

Dr. Claude Grison, senior researcher at CNRS and PI of the project One person’s trash is another person’s treasure – optimizing metal-contaminated plant biomass towards the needs of Green Chemistry, received the European Inventor Award 2022 in the "Research" category.