Science and Innovation

Today marks three years since a shooting on Northern Arizona University’s campus left three students injured and one dead. In the days that followed, NAU psychologist Heidi Wayment surveyed students to learn how they responded—with grief, depression, or anxiety—and also what helped them heal. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke with Wayment about her recently published findings.

A Flagstaff astronomer turned up a rare object at the edge of the solar system that strengthens the case for an undiscovered massive planet. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports.

A new study says endangered razorback suckers upstream of Lake Powell may struggle to migrate up the San Juan River to spawn. The fish are blocked by a waterfall that formed two decades ago when the river changed its course. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports. 

Some people collect pinyon pine nuts this time of year for a tasty autumn treat. Others sell them for extra income. But Catherine Gehring of Northern Arizona University goes nut-gathering every September for a different reason. She researches ways pinyon pines survive drought—at a time when a hotter, drier climate is predicted to drive the trees out of Arizona entirely. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke with her in the woodlands east of Flagstaff.

The new Arizona Science Standards, meant to guide K-12 science curriculum, have been plagued with controversy for their treatment of evolution. The Arizona Department of Education spent more than a year convening committees to hammer out language everyone can agree on. The latest version will be presented to the Board of Education on Monday—but in an unexpected move, the Superintendent of Public Instruction has already decided not to recommend it. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports.