My Arizona Lecture Series - "Can We Save Arizona's Sonoran Desert?"

Friday, December 4, 2009
3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.

The School of Geography and Development at the University of Arizona is launching an annual lecture series titled "My Arizona." The first lecture will be given by Julio Betancourt, who is a senior scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey and an adjunct professor in the UA School of Geography and Development, the department of geosciences, the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, the Office of Arid Land Studies and the School of Natural Resources and the Environment.

In addition to building on Betancourt's work on invasive species and other threats to our desert ecosystem, the presentation will be augmented by the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Jack Dykinga.

"The idea behind this lecture series is to draw from on-campus resources – from such areas as the humanities, the social sciences and the sciences – and have faculty speak, from a personal vantage point, about some aspect of Arizona that is near and dear to them," says J. P. Jones, director of the School of Geography and Development.

About the lecture:

Large-scale invasions by Eurasian and African grasses, brought in by chance or to feed cattle and control erosion, have introduced frequent and extensive fires into American deserts that supported little or no burning in the pre-European era. Betancourt believes we are standing on a threshold and must now choose between saving the desert or resigning ourselves to these novel and combustible grasslands. What decisions must we make, who makes them and how will they be implemented across complex physical and cultural landscapes?

Audience: All, Large (101-500)