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In This Issue Spring 2022

Wildcat Gamers

Nearly 60 students have joined one of seven varsity teams since the university launched an official competitive esports program in March 2021.

Partnerships for a Better Future

Growing up on the Navajo Nation, Karletta Chief ’07 saw firsthand the environmental impacts of mining on her community. Her family was forced to move off their land due to health hazards posed by its proximity to the Black Mesa strip mine.

How Trees Tell Stories

Ansel Adams’ redwoods almost steal the show at the University of Arizona Center for Creative Photography’s most recent exhibition, “Trees Stir in Their Leaves.” But they have plenty of competition in the powerful exhibit focusing on science, art and trees running through July 23.

Eternal Vigilance: Bobcats Celebrate 100th Anniversary

The university’s oldest organization, the Bobcats Senior Honorary celebrated its 100th anniversary in February.

Lifesaving Detection

Jennifer Barton, director of the University of Arizona’s BIO5 Institute and the Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Engineering, has spent years developing a device small enough to image the fallopian tubes — narrow ducts connecting the uterus to the ovaries — to search for signs of early-stage cancer.

The Business of Winning

Thanks to recent, long-awaited policy revisions by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Sam Thomas and other student-athletes can now use their names, images and likenesses — or “NILs” — for income.

Wonder Makes Us Explore

Whenever Marcia Rieke points her telescope into her favorite part of the night sky, she looks toward the constellation Sagittarius. What she is looking for is, well, nothing. A void. In that absence of light is a supermassive black hole — our galactic center.

Wonder Makes Us

In 2019, the University of Arizona rolled out a new brand, Wonder, rooted in the university’s purpose and values and designed to capture the spirit of curiosity that powers Wildcat creativity and ingenuity. Read on for the myriad ways UArizona faculty, staff, students and alumni discover what wonder means to them and how it inspires their daily lives and work.

Science Gives Me Hope

When Jessica Tierney enrolled in an introductory geology course in college, it sparked her interest in Earth Science, and soon she embarked on a path to studying ancient climates.

Asking Alumni Experts

What hard-earned wisdom would you share with graduating seniors? For expert advice in this issue, we turned to alumni who are successful in a variety of fields.

Wind-Powered Defense

University of Arizona aerospace and mechanical engineering researchers have received $3.5 million in funding from the state of Arizona’s investment in the New Economy Initiative and $6.5 million in federal support through the Department of Defense’s Test Resource Management Center to upgrade hypersonic facilities and related research infrastructure.

Letter from President Robert C. Robbins, M.D.

I am incredibly proud of all our alumni. Wildcats make the world a better place every day, which is why continuing to help our students succeed is one of the two most important things we do at the university.

Recovery Initiative: Researchers Study Long COVID-19

Just as the symptoms and severity of COVID-19 vary significantly from person to person, so too does recovery. Many people recover completely in a matter of weeks. Others experience symptoms that linger for months or return after improving — some even develop new symptoms.

A Day of Remembrance

The University of Arizona celebrated a Day of Remembrance in March to recognize and mourn the many lives lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wonder Makes Us Innovate

Each year, millions of Americans face the civil court system with slim chances for true justice, either because they can’t afford a lawyer or due to technological hurdles blocking their path. The costs to them — and to society — can be significant.

Wonder Makes Us Create

Woodlin Latocki had only just begun to dip her toes into the world of animation when she was approached to animate part of the University of Arizona Wonder campaign.

Wonder Makes Us Move

Taylor Bradley ’15 fell in love with dance when he was 9 years old. “I never really had that crisis of ‘What do I do? Where do I go?’ I was like, ‘I’m going to be a dancer. Yeah, it’s going to happen.’”

Resilience

The University of Arizona has formed the Arizona Institutes for Resilience: Solutions for the Environment and Society, or AIR, to better understand environmental challenges and to develop solutions that tangibly improve people’s resilience in the wake of environmental shocks, including those due to climate change.

What’s Next in Partnering with Tribal Leaders

Tribal communities should be involved in driving the research questions, co-designing the research approach and participating in the collection of data.

Tree Talk

To paint a clearer picture of how global climate change will affect Earth’s ecosystems, a team of 80 international research scientists set out to complete an unparalleled experiment: forcing the world’s only enclosed rainforest — housed in the University of Arizona’s Biosphere 2 — through a four-month-long controlled drought and recovery.

Bringing People Together

Maribel Alvarez ’03 talks about the importance of folklife with an infectious passion and warmth. “I wish people would abandon the notion that folklore is a relic of the past. It is our everyday,” she says. Alvarez, the Jim Griffith Chair in Public Folklore at the Southwest Center in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, describes folklife as the grease that oils the machine of everyday life and makes it endurable.

Masks that Transform

Dozens of pascola masks were on display at the Arizona State Museum through April 2022, and can be viewed in the museum’s online collection. The exhibit showcases ASM’s James S. Griffith Collection and examines the masks and pascola traditions that are integral to the Mayo and Yaqui lifeways.

Pac-12 Champs

Arizona Men’s Basketball finished Tommy Lloyd’s debut season 33-4 overall and 18-2 in conference play. They reinvigorated McKale Center mid-pandemic and brought team play to the arena.

Another Great Year for Arizona Women's Basketball

The Wildcats finished the season 21-8 overall and 10-6 in conference play to earn a No. 4 seed in the tournament. Arizona Women’s Basketball averaged home crowds of 7,822 on the season, which ranked first in the Pac-12 and sixth nationally.

The Making of a Unicorn

Scott Cohen ’96 and Blake Johnson ’99 have an entrepreneurial spirit that guided them through economic uncertainty when the COVID-19 pandemic began the same year they launched their first joint venture, a company called Byte that produces invisible orthodontic aligners.

Understanding the World

Jacquelynn and Bennett Dorrance spent their years at the University of Arizona together, marrying in 1968 and graduating in 1969.

Truth in Grayscale: Alumna Author and Illustrator Margaret Kimball

In her debut graphic memoir, “And Now I Spill the Family Secrets,” Margaret Kimball peels back familial silence and layers of memory to uncover a compound fracture of facts. Part coming-of-age story, part genuine mystery, Kimball’s narrative stands on its own and would be a compelling read even without illustrations.

Joel Kanter ’12 and his wife, Denise Kanter ’12 ’13, connected in Houston after they both graduated from Arizona. They spent their first date sharing Wildcat basketball memories and planning watch parties. Since then, they’ve traveled across the country to cheer for the ’Cats. They’re now married and raising two future Wildcats. Their daughter attended her first Arizona basketball game at three months old.

Kendra Rascón ’20 has married her high school sweetheart, a student in the Eller College of Management, after becoming engaged in front of the fountain at Old Main in 2020.

Nichole Guard ’07 welcomed Joseph William Guard in March 2021.

Steven Giordano ’17 and Jessica Grossman ’18 recently became engaged at the top of “A” Mountain after spending a day visiting campus. The couple met at UArizona Hillel. They recently moved back to Arizona after living in Nashville, Tennessee.

Photo Spotlight

Wonder in Austin

The University of Arizona welcomed thousands of people to the Wonder House
during its inaugural appearance at South by Southwest. University experts
shared insights related to sustainability, culture, wellness, creativity and diversity
and inclusion.

/ Chris Richards photo

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Wonder Makes Us Explore

In This Issue Spring 2022

Paw Prints

Photo Spotlight

Wonder in Austin