We work to protect and maintain ecosystems to prevent endangerment and tackle issues like invasive species and drought.
Conservation biology often focuses on the protection of rare species, and our faculty help to conserve a wide variety of species ranging from Pima pineapple cactus in Tucson to king cobra snakes in India. However, our faculty also increasingly explore how to maintain functioning ecosystems through environmental changes to prevent species from becoming endangered in the first place. Our faculty research also digs into broad but critical issues, such as the harm invasive species cause to native habitats and the impacts of drought on streams in arid lands. To accomplish this, conservation biology integrates across a variety of disciplines, including biology, ecology, genetics, economics, law, philosophy, and natural resource management.