Travis Huxman received a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in biology from California State University, San Bernardino in 1996. He earned his doctorate in biological sciences from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2000. He was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Colorado before joining The University of Arizona in Tucson in 2001. Huxman is a broadly trained biologist who is interested in the evolution of plant traits and the impacts of climate change on ecosystems. He has worked in deserts, grasslands and forests throughout North America, studying the physiological underpinning of how plants grow and reproduce, how climate variability and change affects plant and ecosystem processes and how ecosystems services relate to the human endeavor. His current research focuses on understanding the role of deserts in global climate. How deserts acquire and process carbon from the atmosphere and use water on the landscape are important feedbacks on global change that affect resource availablity for consumption by society. Some important aspects of this current research include how ecological phenomena such as non-native species invasions affect the relationship between ecosystem carbon balance, water use and climate.
Larry Winter is a Professor in the Department of Hydrology and Water Resources (HWR) at the University of Arizona. He joined HWR in 2009 after spending most of his career at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). While at LANL Dr. Winter led the Groundwater Modeling Group (EES5), the Computer Research and Applications Group (C3), and the Applied Probability and Statistics Team in the Applied Mathematics Group (T7). He also served as the Governor of New Mexico's science advisor. He led LANL’s Basin-Scale Modeling Research Project that developed a detailed computational model of the water cycle of the upper Rio Grande Basin. That project was conducted as LANL’s contribution to the NSF Science and Technology Center for Sustainability of semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas (SAHRA) at the UA. At NCAR Dr. Winter was the Deputy Director of the center and a Senior Scientist in the Institute for Mathematics Applied to Geoscience. He is also a member of the board of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). His Ph.D. is in Applied Mathematics and his research interests focus on applying high-performance computation and the theory of stochastic processes to physics-based models of uncertainty about surface and ground water flow and mass transport and to evaluate risks to environmental systems. He is the author of more than 50 refereed papers.
Pierre Meystre obtained his Physics Diploma and doctorate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne in 1971 and 1974, respectively, and the Habilitation in Theoretical Physics from the University of Munich in 1983. He joined the Max-Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in 1977, following a postdoctoral position with M.O. Scully at The University of Arizona. In 1986, he returned to the UA where he is currently Regents' Professor of Physics and Optical Sciences and holds the Chair of Quantum Optics. Meystre's research includes theoretical quantum optics, atomic physics, ultracold atoms, atom optics, Bose condensation and quantum-degenerate atomic and molecular systems. He has published over 260 referred papers and is the author of the text "Elements of Quantum Optics," together with Murray Sargent III, and of the monograph "Atom Optics." His awards and honors include Fellow, American Physical Society; Fellow, Optical Society of America; Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science; the Humboldt Foundation Research Prize for Senior U.S. Scientists; and the R.W. Wood Prize of the Optical Society of America. Professor Meystre has served on numerous boards, including the Advisory Board of the Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms, the External Advisory Board of the University of Michigan FOCUS Physics Frontiers Center and the Advisory Board of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics. He also chaired the External Advisory Board of the Harvard-Smithsonian Institute for Theoretical Atomic and Molecular Physics as well as the Long-Range Planning Committee of that institute. He currently chairs the National Research Council Standing Committee of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Sciences (CAMOS), is divisional associate editor of Physical Review Letters, and serves as chair-elect of the Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics of the American Physical Society.
As Director of External Affairs, Hassan Hijazi focuses on strategic initiatives to advance the missions of Biosphere 2, B2 Earthscience and B2 Institute. In support of this activity he works with businesses, foundations and community leaders, as well as local, state and federal government officials. Before joining Biosphere 2, Hijazi served as Assistant Director of the University of Arizona Office of Federal Relations from 2003-2007. In this capacity he acted as liaison between the University of Arizona and the Federal Government. Prior to this appointment, Hijazi worked as District Aide to Congressman Jim Kolbe for 13 years, dealing with a variety of issues including agriculture, education, science, space and technology. Hijazi is an active participant in the Tucson community. He has served on the board of the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus (past president) and is currently president of the Board of Directors of the World Care Relief Organization and a member of the UA Presents Board of Directors. Hijazi received his BS in Industrial Engineering and MS in International Relations from the University of Arizona.
Photo Credits: FOTOSMITH