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May 12, 2011
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Article Analyzes Links Between Energy and Water in Arizona and Sonora Border Region
 
In an article published recently in Natural Resources Journal, CHRISTOPHER SCOTT, associate research professor at the Udall Center and associate professor in the School of Geography and Development, and co-author Martin Pasqualetti of Arizona State University, describe the interconnection between water and energy -- water is used to produce energy and energy is used to deliver water -- in the semi-arid, rapidly urbanizing borderlands of Arizona and Sonora.

The authors presented their paper, "Energy and water resources scarcity: Critical infrastructure for growth and economic development in Arizona and Sonora," at a symposium, "The Water-Energy Conundrum: Water Constraints on New Energy Development in the Southwest," held last year in Albuquerque and sponsored by the University of New Mexico School of Law.

To view a copy of the article online, click here.


To learn more about Scott's work on the water-energy nexus, click here.

 
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Researchers Discuss Ways to Respond to Widespread Losses of Ecosystem Services from Climate Changes
 
In the May 2011 issue of Ambio: A Journal of the Human Environment, LAURA LOPEZ-HOFFMAN, assistant research professor at the Udall Center and assistant professor in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment, and co-authors David Breshears at the UA and Lisa Graumlich at the University of Washington, provide a conceptual framework of options for stakeholder reliant on ecosystem services that might suddenly disappear or diminish due to catastrophic and large-scale ecosystem changes.

In their paper, "When ecosystem services crash: Preparing for big, fast, patch climate change," the researchers suggest that under such ecological "crashes," the adaptive capacity and vulnerability of stakeholders will be related to how portable the service is that they receive and how flexible the stakeholders are in terms of being able to locate to where the service still might be available. The researchers also suggest a possible role for cooperative networks that might increase resilience of ecosystem service delivery across large regions.

To view a copy of the article, click here.

To learn more about Lopez-Hoffman's work on ecosystem services, click here.
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Staff Activities
 
ROBERT VARADY, Udall Center deputy director,

presented two talks this past April in Paris. At the UNESCO meeting of ISARM (Internationally Shared Aquifer Resources Management) experts, he presented the talk, "Ideas for ISARM's Vision for Good Policies and Governance." At the UNESCO International Hydrological Progamme meeting on groundwater governance, he presented the paper (co-authored by Christopher Scott and Sharon Megdal), "Groundwater Policy and Governance: Ideas for a White Paper."

 
MIRIAM JORGENSEN, NNI director of research, presented the talk, "The U.S. Urban Indigenous Populations(s): Characteristics, Concerns, and Governance Arrangements," on a panel, "Urban Indigenous Populations," at the International Indigenous Safety Seminar sponsored by the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in March. In April, she was appointed as Expert Panelist for the Urban Institute Assessment of Native American, Alaskan Native and Hawaiian Housing Needs, 2011-2012, which convened its first meeting in April.

 
ANNE BROWNING-AIKEN, Udall Center senior researcher, presented a paper (co-authored by Bruce Gungle of the USGS), "Watershed Data, Hydrologic Indicators, and the Quest for Sustainable Groundwater Use in the Upper San Pedro River, Arizona" at a meeting about river conservation and restoration held in South Korea and organized by the UNESCO HELP (Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy) Steering Committee.
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Graduate Student Research Awards
 
JAMIE McEVOY, Udall Center graduate research associate and a doctoral student in the School of Geography and Development, received an Institute of International Education Fulbright Award to conduct field research in Baja California this coming year related to her dissertaton topic, "Desalination and Development: The Technological Transformation of the Gulf of California in the Face of Climate Change." McEvoy's work is supervised by Udall Center associate research professor, Margaret Wilder, who is also an associate professor in the Center for Latin American Studies and School of Geography and Development.

ANDREA PRICHARD, Udall Center graduate research assistant and master's degree student in the School of Geography and Development, received a Water Sustainability Program Travel Grant for her presentation at the Association of American Geographers conference in Seattle in April, "Uphill Both Ways: Natural Resource Impacts of Inter-Basin Transfers of Freshwater and Sewage at the US-Mexico Border City of Nogales, Sonora," co-authored by Christopher Scott, Sharon Megdal, and Prescott Vandervoet. Scott is her major professor.

LILY HOUSE-PETERS, Udall Center graduate research associate and a doctoral student in the School of Geography and Development, received two awards from the UA recently: a Summer Proposal Development award from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Institute (SBSRI) and a Biosphere 2 Science and Society fellowship for the 2011-12 academic year. She also received a Water Sustainability Program Travel Grant for her presentation at the Association of American Geographers conference in Seattle in April, "In Pursuit of the Water Sensitive City: Examining the Institutionalization of Alternative Water Technologies in Melbourne, Australia." House-Peters is supervised by Christopher Scott.

 

Udall Center Update

(520) 626-4393 

 

Robert Merideth, Editor 

Chrys Gakopoulos, Designer  


Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy 

Established in 1987, the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy sponsors policy-relevant, interdisciplinary research and forums that link scholarship and education with decision-making. The Center specializes in issues concerning: (1) environmental policy, primarily in the Southwest and U.S.-Mexico border region; (2) immigration policy of the United States; and (3) Indigenous nations policy.

 

Native Nations Institute  

The Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy (NNI), founded in 2001 by the Morris K. Udall Foundation (now Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation) and The University of Arizona and housed at the Udall Center, serves as a self-determination, governance, and development resource for Indigenous nations in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere.



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