Research within A&S is both diverse and relevant to the 21st century
We have the nation's largest Long
Term Ecological Research (LTER) facility, where the complex interrelationship
of environmental factors such as wind, rain, terrain, sunlight, and various
animal and plant populations are routinely documented to support research
at UNM, and around the world.
Other research projects involve the humanities as well as the hard sciences. We are known for our work on the local, national and international level.
University of New Mexico Distinguished Professor of Biology Eric Charnov Honored as Fellow in the American Academy of Arts & Sciences
 New research identifies specific combinations of ecological traits that may put some mammal species in greater jeopardy of extinction.
As the human population continues to grow and resource demands soar, biodiversity conservation has never been more critical. Researchers Ana Davidson, Marcus Hamilton, Alison Boyer, and James Brown in the UNM Biology Department, and collaborator Gerardo Ceballos at the Instituto de Ecologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), have studied extinction in mammals through multiple ecological pathways and published the findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The research represents an important advance and is vital to understanding the causes of extinction risk in mammals. It also goes beyond previous analyses on extinction risk by identifying specific combinations of ecological traits that cause some species to be at greater risk than others. full story...
 Searching for Meteorities
“For UNM’s Institute of Meteoritics Research Scientist Barbara Cohen, combing over the Antarctic snow is just another summer’s day. For two seasons she spent six weeks of Antarctica’s summer (our winter) as a team member of the Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET), funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation
Hunting for meteorites on the frozen continent is ideal because the severe conditions leave them preserved, concentrated, and easy to see. “Meteors usually take five to ten years to disintegrate, but in a hot desert, they don’t wither and turn into soil,” she says. “Antarctica is basically a cold desert.”
The white snowy landscape also provides stark contrast against the meteorites they find—black on the outside after burning through the atmosphere. She says, “We use a map and GPS to navigate around where we’ve already looked. Then, the only instruments we use are our eyes.”
Along with her team, Cohen spotted an exciting find—a new type of meteorite. “It’s clearly a meteorite, but we have no idea what it is,” she says. “No one’s ever seen anything like it before—ever.”
It, along with other ANSMET finds are sent to Smithsonian scientists who catalog each meteorite after conducting preliminary elemental tests. After that, samples are up for grabs. “Anyone can have a piece, anywhere in the world,” she explains. “Even researchers who find the meteorites have to write a request for a piece of one.”
She definitely plans on requesting a sample of the mysterious meteorite she found, and says by age-dating meteorites, “We can understand the beginnings of the solar system,” adding, “They’re the only way we know anything about Mars or asteroids.”
As for her future summer plans, she says, “It’s really cool. I’d go back again—definitely.”
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