Arizona Illustrated

The University of Arizona main campus houses a unique collection of plants from arid and semi-arid climates around the world. These plants represent the University's history, and a walk around campus can become a look at the agricultural and cultural development of the modern southwest University of Arizona Professor Sadhana Ravishankar has spent her career keeping agricultural products in Arizona safe, and was recently awarded Inventor of the Year by Tech Launch Arizona after her lab developed natural antimicrobial washes for produce. Her work has become especially important in an agricultural state like Arizona, where so many of our winter salad vegetables are grown. The Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists work to educate and inspire the public through talks, demonstrations, and desert walks. On a lizard walk, curious members of the public can expect to see tiger whiptails, eastern collared lizards, zebra-tailed lizards and many other species that call Sabino Canyon home. Volunteer naturalists lead these walks, where they educate visitors on the lizards and the habitat they call home. During the summer months in Tucson thousands of Mexican Free-tail bats migrate up from Mexico and establish a presence under a couple of bridges in town. Every evening at sunset, they can be seen as a swirling dark cloud before going out to feed. It has become a natural phenomenon for residents and visitors to experience. Maybe you’ve seen him riding through downtown, on the West Side, the Foothills, hurtling down Gates Pass, or as far away as Bisbee. But one thing’s for sure, when you see him, he’s sure to make you either smile or shake your head. He’s the man, the legend, he’s Quad Guy!