Thriving in the Desert Requires Resilience
At the Arizona Institute for Resilience, our researchers bring passion, resolve, and tenacity to their work shaping a sustainable future for us all in the face of the global change. Whether ensuring we have productive agriculture and natural ecosystems in a drying world, protecting our children and other populations vulnerable to extreme heat, or tracking and predicting extreme weather events to bolster our infrastructure, at AIR we're prepared.
Elise Gornish directs AIR's Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill, where we bring the desert to you through free public lectures, nature walks, a unique youth program and much more. Oh, and we also do research here that is done nowhere else in the world.
Formerly in the New York City fashion industry, Elise pivoted into conservation biology and ecology and founding an outdoor leadership program for inner-city girls in Arizona. She's also an associate professor and extension specialist in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment under the College of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences.
Humans depend as much on their environment as it depends on them, she likes to remind people.
Ladd Keith directs AIR's Heat Resilience Initiative, where interdisciplinary teams are addressing the global challenge of extreme heat through research, education, and engagement.
Keith has co-written guides for communities and cities to plan for extreme heat, been interviewed by outlets such as NPR, CNN, and CBS News, and even informed the United Nations' heat risk governance framework and toolkit.
He's also an associate professor of planning in the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture, and a faculty research associate in the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy.
"I was absolutely shaped by the U of A's land grant mission," Keith says. "All of my research is focused on advancing society and returning practical benefits to people."
Zack Guido directs AIR's International Resilience Lab, which leads research and engagement efforts uniting U of A home talent with that of partners around the globe to manage risks and identify solutions to societal and environmental challenges.
Starting out as a Peace Corps volunteer, Guido is now an associate research scientist at AIR, where he studies our home-grown desert storms. Guido co-founded AIR's seasonal Monsoon Fantasy Forecasts game, an online matchup where players compete to predict monsoon rainfall across the Desert Southwest.
According to Guido, climate adaptation and resilience can be catalysts for progress on critical global issues.