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UA graduate student in geosciences Becki Beadling on a research vessel in teh Southern Ocean, deploying robotic floats that gather information for the SOCCOM project.

Ocean & Space

Learn about UA scientists in the Southern Ocean measuring climate change; and celebrating the past and future of space exploration at Spacefest X.
Gerry & Darwin Hall, photographed by Jade Beall (detail).

"Wise Bodies, Beautiful Elders" - photographer Jade Beall confronts ageism in the raw.

Also on Arizona Spotlight: The facts regarding mental illness and gun violence; and mushroom hunters go on a monsoon quest.
Harvey Girls at the lunch counter of the Harvey House in Winslow, Arizona circa 1910.

Arizona Spotlight for August 1st, 2019

Looking back at a 1979 radioactive contamination in Tucson, and citizens working together; exploring the history of Harvey Houses in Arizona; and a couple finds common ground with "One Small Step".
Some of the contemporary citizens of Bisbee, Arizona who participated in a dramatic re-enactment of the 1917 Bisbee Deportation for the film "Bisbee '17", directed by Robert Greene.

A town faces ghosts from its past in "Bisbee '17"

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Looking for a new shelter arrangement for asylum seekers in Tucson; and Aurelie Sheehan talks about her new short story collection "Once Into the Night".
Two Gila Topminnows.

500 Gila Topminnows make a splash at The Mission Garden

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Author Kimi Eisele on "The Lightest Object in the Universe"; singer Natalie Douglas returns to Tucson with the songs of Nat King Cole; and "A Love Letter to the Library" about MegaMania.
The view from the Oracle Ridge Trail looking north. The landscape would have been much the same as what Sara Lemmon saw on her journey up the mountain, except of course Biosphere II would not have been in the background.

Arizona Spotlight for May 30th, 2019

Also: Climbing Mt. Lemmon in the footsteps of Sara Plummer Lemmon; TIHAN celebrates 25 years of helping Tucson's HIV-positive community live better; and an artist who finds creative satisfaction in millions of tiny hand drawn lines.
"New Mexico I-10 mile marker 16 Eastbound. A freshly painted shrine for Rafael and Luis, the Virgin watches me through the plexiglas from her post between the crosses marking the passage of these two travelers, the paint is so fresh the dirt is still blue. It’s good to know you are loved." - Jesse Sensibar

Signs of life and death along southwestern highways

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Tucson restaurant history, becoming a goat, and looking back at Dr. Martin Luther King's visits to Tucson.
Dr. Mae C. Jemison during her 1992 mission as crew member on the space shuttle Endeavor.

Dr. Mae C. Jemison: "Living Deeply and Looking Up"

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Artists wish UA students good luck during finals week; Exploring Persian fairy tales and women in mythology; Adiba Nelson on the challenges of being a mom.
1,100 backpacks represent the number of college students who died by suicide in 2018. This event was designed to raise awareness about mental health and encourage suicide prevention.

Can 1,000 Empty Backpacks Save Lives?

Also: How Pima County could pay for newly opened migrant shelters; Bridging cultural divides with the Persian language; Tucson author Janni Lee Simner reads from her new book.
Guatemalan father with his 5 year old daughter. It took father and daughter almost two weeks to get to the Arizona border. They are asylum seekers staying at a temporary shelter opened by the City of Tucson to relieve the overflow of migrants at Tucson shelters. (April 18, 2019)

The City of Tucson Offers Hope to Migrants in Need

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Go backstage at Tucson High Magnet School to preview "Our Border Town"; Tucson poet laureate TC Tolbert receives grant from the Academy of American Poets; And, what would you do with the blessing of extra time to be alive?
Ilse Salas, star of director Alejandra Márquez Abella's film "Las Niñas Bien", part of the 2019 Tucson Cine Mexico Film Festival.

Preview Tucson Cine Mexico 2019!

Also: March is National Kidney Month, hear the story of a Tucson woman whose family is coping with a serious hereditary kidney disease; and how Edie Jarolim found family history next door to Sigmund Freud.
The main cast of "American Mariachi" at the start of the play, still learning the ropes.

Music from the Heart in "American Mariachi"

Also on Arizona Spotlight: How NAMI and the Mission Garden are growing wellness in Tucson; and author Alice Hatcher reads her "Love Letter to My Library"
Radiant Gesture (2013) Joanna Frueh, photographed by Frances Murray, from "Unapologetic Beauty"

Discovering "Unapologetic Beauty"

Also on Arizona Spotlight: An artist finds her dream job in the wilderness; and, part 2 of a discussion on "The Insect Apocalypse".
Author, poet and regular NPR commentator Kwame Alexander.

Kwame Alexander's Love Affair with Words

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Charles J. Babbitt's new guide for birding in Arizona; and, what's happening to planet Earth's insects?
Myriam Moscona's parents were born in Bulgaria and settled in Mexico after World War II.

Sephardic Jews and Their Language Inspire Mexican Writer

Myriam Moscona focuses on her heritage and the language of her elders: Ladino, also called Judeo-Spanish.
"Hold On To Your Weaves" (2018) / photograph by Kennady Schneider

#Black - Exploring Identity with Photography

Also on Arizona Spotlight: A "Go Fund Me" campaign for the border wall; An author's journey in search of her Sephardic Jewish heritage; and the world debut of the play "The Hall of Final Ruin."

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