Panda Restaurant Group, Inc. (the parent company of Panda Express) is the Conserve to Enhance (C2E) program's first business participant. The Panda Express at 2485 N. Swan Rd. (Tucson's Corners) is the first store to officially join C2E; additional participant locations throughout Tucson will be announced as they sign up. Participating Panda Express stores will work with C2E to improve their water use efficiency and raise funds for the program. The Tucson's Corners location has scheduled a water audit and will be organizing a C2E fundraiser soon. Learn more about C2E here.

The 4th Annual University of Arizona Food Safety Conference will be held Friday, Oct. 11 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Omni Tucson National Resort. Sponsored by the UA Food Safety Consortium, the 2013 conference includes a number of distinguished speakers representing growers, processors and safety regulators from a diverse array of food industries.

Researchers attending the workshop will have the opportunity to interact with stakeholders and learn about current food and water safety concerns and research needs. Click here for registration information.

APW's Betsy Wilkening Explores the Arctic with National Geographic

While many UA employees spent the summer hunkered down in air-conditioned offices, one was able to escape the heat in a big way. 

Betsy Wilkening, program coordinator for Arizona Project WET, recently returned to Tucson from a 15-day expedition through Greenland and Nunavut in the Canadian High Arctic aboard the ship National Geographic Explorer.

Click here to read more about Betsy's Polar Trek.