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The Southwest Biological Science Center, Arizona Water Science Center, and Western Geographic Science Center have teamed up to bring you informative & interesting news about USGS science & related activities in the southwest U.S. — and (if we say so ourselves) often beautiful imagery associated with our science on the @USGSAZ Twitter account.

Areal photo of USGS Flagstaff Science Campus, Flagstaff, Arizona
Photo of Flagstaff Science Campus (FSC), Flagstaff, Arizona. There are 5 Science Centers located on the FSC: the Arizona Water Science Center, the Astrogeology Science Center, the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, the Southwest Biological Science Center, and the Western Geographic Science Center.

The Southwest Biological Science Center (SBSC) is based in Flagstaff, AZ, with field stations in Tucson, AZ, and Moab, UT.  SBSC's social media highlights terrestrial and river ecosystem science conducted on the Colorado Plateau, Colorado River, and drylands of Arizona, California, and Utah. SBSC's mission is to conduct quality, objective research on the lands and aquatic systems of the Southwest. This research can assist those who manage, conserve, and rehabilitate the arid regions of the nation. 

To learn more about the Southwest Biological Science Center, click here or search #USGS_SBSC on Twitter.

 
Photo of USGS Arizona Water Science Center, Tucson Office
Photo of the USGS Arizona Water Science Center, Tucson Office building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Arizona Water Science Center (AzWSC) is based in Tucson, AZ, with field stations in Flagstaff, Glendale, and Yuma, AZ. AzWSC’s social media highlights science conducted in water systems across Arizona. The mission of the AzWSC is to collect and interpret high quality, impartial scientific information to provide resource managers and the public with the knowledge required to understand and manage the critical resources of Arizona and the Southwest. Key capabilities include water use, streamflow monitoring, microgravity-based hydrologic analysis, surface geophysics, water-quality monitoring, continuous slope area, uncrewed aircraft systems, groundwater-surface water interaction modeling. 

To learn more about the Arizona Water Science Center, click here or search #USGS_AzWSC on Twitter.

 

Photograph of the edge of a tall brick building with nearby trees and a large sign.
The USGS Western Region campus in Menlo Park, California houses many different USGS teams, such as Western Geographic Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Water Science Center, and Volcano Science Center, and features many state-of-the-art laboratories.

 

 

 

Western Geographic Science Center (WGSC) is based in Menlo Park, CA, with field stations in Tucson and Flagstaff, AZ. WGSC's social media highlights its mission to conduct geographic research on the environmental and societal consequences of a changing landscape, including water availability and sustainability, climate change, landscape change, and natural hazards and society. WGSC's tools and models help decision makers use complex scientific information to understand their alternative options.

To learn more about the Western Geographic Science Center, click here or search #USGS_WGSC on Twitter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the landscapes we work in are pictured below.

 

USGS boat parked in serene spot on Lake Powell where light streams through hole at cliff tops
Cathedral in the Desert, Lake Powell.
Boats along a beach on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon
Boats on a sandy beach on a USGS Colorado River trip in Grand Canyon. 
Photograph of the Colorado River as it enter the Grand Canyon. The Vermillion Cliffs can be seen in the distance.
Looking down the Colorado River near Lees Ferry as it enters the Grand Canyon, at USGS streamflow gage 09380000.
Photograph show the initial energy wave of a flash flood on the Paria River in Arizona.
Paria River just downstream of USGS streamflow gage 09382000. 
Looking south at Mt San Jacinto near Palm Springs during desert tortoise surveys
California drylands, looking south toward Mt San Jacinto, during spring desert tortoise surveys near Palm Springs.
Drylands near Moab, Utah
A photo of drylands near Moab, Utah. Image taken by Erika Geiger, USGS. Public domain.

 

Picture of restoration plantings doing well at an experimental site.
View of a Restoration Field Trial Network in the rangelands of Northern Arizona.
Biocrusts on the Colorado Plateau, Utah
Biocrusts on the Colorado Plateau.
A landscape view of the drylands of southern Utah
Drylands of Southern Utah.
Ocotillo flowers, Sonoran Desert.
Saguaro flowers with a bee, Tucson, AZ
Saguaro flowers with a bee, near Tucson, AZ. 
Image: Arizona Upland Plant Community in the Sonoran Desert
Arizona upland plant community.

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