aerial view of a deciduous forest in the fall taken from a high tower

Nature’s most important climate change defenders are in peril

seashells embedded into a coastal rock cliff

Faculty & Staff

Research & Academics

How geochronology can turn ancient seashells into clocks

Using a little-known technique called amino acid geochronology, NAU scientist Darrell Kaufman is analyzing ancient seashells to determine the ages of shorelines from dozens of sites around the world. Kaufman says shells that date back to the last interglacial period, when sea levels were 20 feet higher than they are today, could tell us a lot about what to expect as the Earth’s temperature warms.

Images from Santa Lucia Preserve in Monterey County, showing trees enveloped by fog and later by sun.

Research & Academics

What AI can tell us about California redwoods and fog

An undergraduate student at NAU is working with faculty to understand how fog movement on the California coast influences redwood trees’ growth. By creating a machine learning model that can analyze photos of fog in redwood forests, she’s helping scientists and their partners protect the beloved coast redwoods as climate change spells a less foggy future in Northern California.

Woman reading a notebook with a laptop next to her

Research & Academics

Student edition

Two degrees. One streamlined path.

What if you could earn two master’s degrees without doubling the time or cost? An online dual-degree program in public administration and social work will offer students looking to make a difference in their communities a streamlined path saving them time and money.

MORE NEWS

Research & Academics

A tarp covering a homeless camp under a bridge.

How students are working to solve the homelessness crisis in Arizona

NAU’s Community Impact Fellowship Program gives psychological sciences graduate students the opportunity to fund their education while helping to address the housing crisis in Arizona.

Tommy Rock, Assistant Research Professor at Northern Arizona University, fills a container with water from a livestock well in Utah.

Mapping safe drinking water on the Navajo Nation

A group of NAU researchers, led by analytical chemist Jani Ingram, sampled water in wells throughout the Navajo Nation to identify which wells contained safe drinking water and which contained dangerous levels of uranium. The work doesn’t just protect Navajo Nation residents’ health; it also provides them with data they can use to advocate for safer community resources. 

aerial view of a deciduous forest in the fall taken from a high tower

Nature’s most important climate change defenders are in peril

For decades, forests have played a vital role in the fight against a warming world by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in trees and soil. But a new study found that one forest’s ability to absorb more CO₂ than it releases has declined in the last 20 years—calling into question just how much we can rely on these forests to help slow climate change.

Campus & Community

Black kitten with white chest and paws laying on a brown pet bed.

Purr-pose in action

What began as a project to paw-sitively improve the lives of felines at High Country Humane became an opportunity for students to put into action what they are learning in the classroom.

A stack of textbooks with highlighters on top

Taking an AXE to the cost of course materials for NAU students

A new program will offer course materials to students at only $270 per semester, allowing students to budget for a set cost and ensure that materials are ready on the first day of class.

Beth Staub holding a camera

From smartphone to studio

Have you ever looked at a picture and assumed it was taken with an expensive professional camera, only to discover it was captured by a smartphone? For National Camera Day on June 24, Beth Anne Staub, assistant teaching professor of photography, who recently won first place in the photography section of the Arizona Treasures art show, answered some questions about how you can make phone pictures look like professional photographs.

Lumberjack Features

Stephanne LHommedieu playing the tuba in the Skydome.

Humans of NAU: Stephanne LHommedieu

Learn how SAC president Stephanne LHommedieu found her way to NAU (twice!), landed her dream job as manager of theater and public events and what she wants to accomplish in her year as president.

Humans of NAU: Dr. Mark Pico

Dr. Mark Pico had a circuitous route to med school that included being a first-gen college student, getting his first job at age 13 and being an Olympic hopeful. Find out what drew Pico to medicine and a coincidental partnership that changed his trajectory.

Jacks in a Flash – Becky Pratt-Sturges

Becky Pratt-Sturges, an associate teaching professor of museum studies and art history, has led the revitalization of the museum studies program. She talked to The NAU Review about coming to NAU as a student, the pressing issues facing museums and why the President’s Distinguished Teaching Fellow award, which she recently won, means so much to her.