The NAU Review — Happy 2025. Tips for learning new names, fresh research on antibiotic resistance + ecology, one FEMA volunteer’s story and more!

🎉 Jan. 8, 2025 🍾

The NAU Review. The official news source for Northern Arizona University.

stock image of two patients in hospital gowns falling off a cliff and being pushed by viruses, with a cliff face that reads "no antibiotics beyond this point"

A public health emergency is coming

As the use of antibiotics has increased worldwide, bacteria have become more and more resistant to multiple drugs. As a result, the entire global population is now at increased risk of dying from infections. It’s not a question of whether it will happen, NAU scientist Benjamin Koch says, but when. There’s good news, though: Governments, industries and individuals can take specific actions to help slow antibiotic resistance.

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Kenneth Silverwind cuddling a black lab dog

Humans of NAU
with Kenneth Silverwind

The firefighter and flight paramedic came to NAU to level up professionally. Read about the master’s student’s recent experience providing medical care to those affected by Hurricanes Milton and Helene with FEMA.

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Saving the Great Salt Lake

The Great Salt Lake plays a surprisingly critical role in the global economy. That means declining water levels may have adverse effects beyond just shrinking shores, new research shows.

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Group of people posing in front of a step and repeat background that says Team College Bound

Bridging gaps for first-generation families

Sending a child to college is stressful for any family. Navigating cultural and language barriers can make it even harder. That’s why NAU’s Family Access, Communication, Transition and Support team developed Team College Bound, a five-lesson curriculum designed to deliver resources and a sense of community to prospective NAU families. There are four programs—one online, one in English, one in Spanish and one first-of-its-kind Indigenous course created in partnership with Indigenous Lumberjacks. The aim? To increase the number of first-generation, rural and underserved students enrolled at NAU.

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aerial image of a tropical forest canopy shrouded in fog

Tropical forests in trouble

Over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries, human activity has degraded about 75% of the world’s tropical rainforests, threatening many of the 16,000+ species that call them home.

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student handing an insulated lunch bag to a farmworker

Support for farmworkers

Every year on Día del Campesino, NAU-Yuma social work students support the farmworkers who pick 90% of the nation’s winter lettuce by providing them with resources and cold-weather essentials.

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