Adelheid Fischer

ASU professors have pooled their intellectual resources to formally tackle some of the developing world's most intractable problems. The result is a social entrepreneurship program called GlobalResolve. --by Adelheid Fischer

Through GlobalResolve, faculty and students from across ASU are tackling public health and environmental problems in developing nations. --by Adelheid Fischer

It has taken 230 years for scientists to describe 1.8 million species of creatures living on Earth. Quentin Wheeler says that five times as many species need to be described in a fraction of the time before many creatures that are still unknown to science disappear into extinction. --by Adelheid Fischer

The streetscape outside Terminal 2 at Sky Harbor Airport was hot, ugly, and unfriendly to wheelchairs. ASU architects were tasked with the job of making the space human- and Earth-friendly. Their design had to combine function with safety, comfort and elegance--for a budget of just $1 million. --by Adelheid Fischer

Antimicrobial soap and biocides of many types were created to keep us safe. But are these substances more dangerous than the germs they were designed to protect us from? --by Adelheid Fischer

By studying nature for clues to solving design and engineering problems, designers and engineers can create innovative solutions that will minimize the environmental impact of new products. --by Adelheid Fischer

Lake Tanganyika is an ecological jewel at the heart of desperate human misery. Prohibitions on fishing--designed to protect the fragile ecosystem--have angered local fishermen. These kinds of tensions between conservationists and local people are common. ASU researchers are working to strike a balance. --by Adelheid Fischer

Most people assume that landscape photographs are about rocks or trees or space. For Mark Klett, the real meaning of landscape photography concerns our essential connection to place, to each other, and, most important, to time. --by Adelheid Fischer

Historians aren't known for interdisciplinary collaborations. But Paul Hirt is getting environmental historians out into the field and working with anthropologists, ecologists and geographers. He hopes to increase their understanding of the complex interactions between humans and the landscape. --by Adelheid Fischer

The sky islands borderlands of the Southwest is a unique area harboring such a broad range of life that Conservation International has designated it a hotspot of global diversity. Once sparsely settled, the sky islands borderlands are now undergoing economic, ecological, and social upheavals. Environmental historian Paul Hirt is looking at the region's past to help citizens, businesses and governments manage its present and future. --by Adelheid Fischer