Arizona Illustrated

Afro Herper: Earyn McGee is a PhD candidate, researching the impact that a drying climate has on lizard populations. She’s also @Afro_ Herper, running the popular social media game #FindThatLizard, where she gets to teach people cool facts about the lizards, while shifting the idea of what it means to be a scientist. She’s also exploring ways to get more black women into natural resources careers. Two Restaurants: The coronavirus pandemic has affected most businesses here in Tucson, but perhaps none have been more negatively impacted than restaurants. Several local favorites have closed their doors for good and many food service workers have lost their jobs or are just struggling to get by. We visit two longtime family run establishments to see how they are managing. School in the Time of COVID-19: Last fall the Tucson Unified School District had planned to open schools for a hybrid of in-person and remote learning. But with the continued rise of COVID-19 cases, the plan was postponed. We visit BASIS charter school in Oro Valley, where the hybrid model was in operation in the fall, to get a sense of the physical and mental toll it has had on teachers, students and parents.