WRRC Participates in AIR 2026 Fall Fest
WRRC associates and graduate assistants present at AIR Fall Fest 2026. Pictured from left to right: Elia Tapia, Jamie McEvoy, Lizeth López, Marjorie Robinson.
Fall Fest 2026, hosted by U of A’s Arizona Institute for Resilience (AIR) on September 9 at the ENR2 building, attracted participants from across campus and beyond, including several WRRC staff and graduate students. Two sections, Water & Weather and Indigenous Resilience, shared the program.
In the Water & Weather section, speakers delved into the feasibility of reclaimed water use and distribution systems (Kerri Hickenbottom, Associate Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering) and weather and climate variability over arid and semi-arid regions (Hsin-I Chang, Assistant Research Professor, Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, and Director, Center for Applied Hydroclimate Sciences). Neha Gupta, an assistant research professor at AIR, presented the hydrological findings of the Arizona Tri-University Recharge and Water Reliability (ATUR) project, and Ladd Keith, director of AIR’s Heat Resilience Initiative, detailed the detrimental effects of extreme heat for southern Arizona communities.
In the Indigenous Resilience section, Aaron Lien, director of the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center, highlighted highlighted how the Center co-produces knowledge alongside Tribal communities to support water conservation projects and climate data projects. Daniel Sestiaga Jr, the assistant director of the Indigenous Resilience Center (IRes), explained the importance of the Tribal community extension work that IRes supports. Following the Fall Fest program, attendees and speakers gathered in the ENR2 courtyard for a networking reception with fellow U of A faculty, students, and industry professionals.