HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT RELATIONSHIPS

In a period of global environmental upheaval and in a dynamic place like Tucson Arizona, where changing water policy, disturbed ecosystems, invasive and exotic plant invasions, wildfires, urban growth problems, arid lands management, and air pollution are among a few of many problems, GRD's human-environment program pursues and innovates diverse approaches to tackle current problems. Substantively, faculty engage in research areas that include international water compacts governing transboundary rivers, village forest use and wildlife population changes in India, wildfire hazards and management in Greece, solid waste management conflicts in Mexico, and lawn chemical use in suburban America. Theoretical perspectives range from approaches emphasizing institutions and markets to those critically evaluating postcolonial development conditions. With top-flight graduate students, wide-ranging techniques, and diverse theoretical approaches, Arizona is a leading source of expertise and graduate education in this field.

Current research areas in human-environmental geography at the University of Arizona include:

• Disease and the environment
• Rematerializing political ecologies
• Socio-cultural and biophysical dimensions of water
• Environmental justice and risk