Exploration, compassion and adaptation: The most popular LQP stories of 2021
Researchers Christopher Hamilton and Solange Duhamel had an unexpected boon when a volcano erupted within a few months of their arrival in Iceland.
Signs mark the path for the drive-through vaccination clinic on the University of Arizona Mall. (Photo by Chris Richards/University of Arizona)
With a saguaro, sun and mountains, the new medallion reflects the University's sense of place.
A seating area cascades alongside an open staircase in the renovated Main Library. (Photo by Chris Richards/University Communications)
Evan MacLean was in a room full of puppies when he met Jeff Goldblum for the first time. (Photo courtesy of Canine Companions)
The University is No. 4 in the education subcategory of Forbes Magazine's America's Best Large Employers list.
University of Arizona astronomer Glenn Schneider traveled to northern Kenya to see this total solar eclipse in 2013. Schneider and fellow eclipse chasers nearly missed it due to a dust storm, but they saw it from a plane 300 feet above the clouds. (Photo by Catalin Beldea, courtesy of Glenn Schneider)
University staff and faculty marked significant accomplishments throughout 2021, from career milestones to once-in-a-lifetime research opportunities.
Whether they were running a vaccination site, beautifying campus, researching volcanoes or recognizing employee contributions, the campus community demonstrated why Forbes says this is one of the best places to work in the United States.
Here is a selection of some of the most popular Lo Que Pasa stories of 2021.
Medallion makeover: MFA alum gives the Regents Professor medal a new look
Alumnus Dwayne Manuel was inspired by land, place and location as he sketched out his ideas for new Regents Professor, Distinguished Professor and Distinguished Outreach Faculty medallions. The new designs "reflect our institution's unique sense of place and our connection with communities throughout the Southwest," said Liesl Folks, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost.
5 things to know about the Student Success District
While much of the campus community worked from home, the Student Success District moved forward. The 9-acre project connects the Main Library, the Albert B. Weaver Science-Engineering Library, Bear Down Gymnasium and the new Bartlett Academic Success Center.
For more than six months, the University served as a point of distribution for COVID-19 vaccinations, administering nearly a quarter of a million doses. Thanks in large part to the work of hundreds of volunteers, the POD received plenty of praise. "It is a first-class, professional operation," said President Robert C. Robbins. "I am really appreciative that everybody is working so hard throughout this pandemic, and not just with the vaccination."
Ruffing it: University researcher talks dogs with actor Jeff Goldblum
Evan MacLean's research on the behavior of dogs has attracted plenty of attention, most recently from an actor perhaps best known for his work with dinosaurs: Jeff Goldblum. MacLean, assistant professor of anthropology and director of the Arizona Canine Cognition Center, is featured in the first episode of season two of "The World According to Jeff Goldblum" on Disney+.
'I wish you all a third act full of happiness' – Robbins and other leaders honor retiring employees
Noting that more than 100 of this year's retirees spent at least 25 years at the University, President Robert C. Robbins expressed his gratitude in a video message, thanking the 283 faculty and staff members for making the University a better place.
University is No. 16 on Forbes Magazine's list of best employers
More than 15,000 faculty and staff members at the University of Arizona can officially say they work for one of the best employers in the United States. The University was included on Forbes' annual list of America's Best Large Employers, placing at No. 16 out of 500 employers and No. 4 in the education subcategory. Among employers with headquarters in Arizona, the University was ranked No. 1.
Two hours in the moon's shadow: Stories of an eclipse chaser
Glenn Schneider, a research professor at Steward Observatory, is an "umbraphile." In other words, he's willing to do just about anything to see a total solar eclipse – including travel to Iceland and board a small plane to watch a celestial event that lasts a fraction of the time it takes to, say, get up from your sofa and draw the curtains. Schneider says he isn't being hyperbolic when he calls his passion an addiction. And his track record of globe-trotting just might support that.
Students turn barren spots on campus into buzzing homes for pollinators
Led by Elise Gornish, the University's Ecological Restoration Club is turning campusdit patches into habitats where plants and animals can thrive. In this Q&A, Gornish, a Cooperative Extension specialist in ecological restoration in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment, discusses what it takes to install a pollinator garden and how the efforts pay off for the people who build them and the creatures that use them.
Christopher Hamilton, associate professor in the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, and Solange Duhamel, associate professor of molecular and cellular biology, returned to Tucson in August after eight months of research in Iceland – a country dotted with glaciers, lava fields and hundreds of volcanoes. Working in the land of the midnight sun brought obvious benefits for the husband-and-wife researchers. So did an unexpected volcanic eruption that gave them a firsthand opportunity that few researchers get to experience. Hamilton and Duhamel described the sights, sounds and smells of a volcano from up close in a video that has tallied more than 63,000 views on YouTube.
Video Q&A: Robbins thanks faculty and staff as the fall semester begins
Since the onset of the pandemic, faculty and staff have lived the University's core values, made incredible sacrifices and rallied together in support of the campus community as well as the broader community, President Robert C. Robbins said in a video Q&A.