Arizona elected officials and business leaders are voicing support this week for new legislation to advance the development of Interstate 11, a proposed highway route between northwestern Nevada and Arizona’s southern border.

Interstate 11 Coalition executive director Scott Higginson, coalition chairman John Ragan, president David Martin and board member Glenn Hamer, president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, wrote a letter to members of the Arizona congressional delegation — Sens. Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema and Reps. Greg Stanton and Paul Gosar — urging them to consider the bill to advance the I-11 project.

“On behalf of the Board of Directors of The Interstate 11 Coalition we offer our thanks and express our full support for the legislation you have drafted to advance the development of Interstate 11 and bring the resources of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) into the process at such a critical time,” the letter began.

“The development of Interstate 11 is crucial to the economic viability of Arizona and Nevada, as well as the entire Intermountain West,” the letter continued. “Completion of Interstate 11 will enhance the commerce connectivity with Mexico and the growing industrial markets of both states.”

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey wrote a letter to McSally last month also asserting support for expanding Arizona’s transportation infrastructure.

“As one of the fastest-growing states in the nation it is critical that our infrastructure keep pace,” Ducey said. “Arizona has added more than 300,000 new private-sector jobs since 2015, and Arizona exported more than $9.7 billion to Canada and Mexico in 2017 alone. Modernizing our trade routes is important to the continued growth of our state and nation.”

John Halikowski, director of the Arizona Department of Transportation, also wrote a letter to McSally.

“I am writing to express my appreciation for your efforts to acquire additional technical and financial assistance for transportation infrastructure projects in Arizona,” Halikowski wrote.

“As you know, Arizona continues to grow as a destination to live, work and play,” he continued. “Since the end of the Great Recession, Arizona has returned to its prominent place as a leader in job growth and economic opportunity. However, the economic and population growth requires additional transportation options.”

Halikowski said the proposed legislation would recognize that current (Tier I) funding for I-11 should continue while additional financial and technical support will be required from USDOT to begin the Tier II Environmental Review Process, the next necessary step in making I-11 a reality.

“As you know, Arizona’s growth has required us to innovate and use every resource available to provide the safest and most effective transportation system available,” Halikowski said in his letter. “In order to ensure that Arizona does not lose resources for projects in the state’s current transportation plan, it’s critical that the financial assistance provided by the Secretary of Transportation not be reallocated from existing formula funding.”

Ducey reiterated that last point in his letter, calling I-11 a “key route” for trade in Arizona and nationwide.

“Interstate 11 will be a significant improvement to Arizona’s system of high-priority, high-capacity, access-controlled transportation corridors in the state,” Ducey said. “Specifically, Interstate 11 will increase capacity for trade and commerce with Mexico and Canada throughout the Intermountain West and is expected to relieve congestion in downtown Phoenix.”

The post Arizona officials and business leaders urge Congress to provide funding for I-11 project appeared first on 91ֱ��.

For more than 60 years, a nonprofit academy started by 150 Arizona-based scientists has stimulated science research to benefit the Southwest and nudged students out of their shells into science careers, many in Arizona.

This year, the academy reached across the border for the first time to include students from the Universidad Autónoma in Baja California, Mexico.

Today, the organization is called the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science. Nevada-based researchers and universities joined in 1977 to unify scientific interests for the unique desert region.

Research from both states is published in the academy’s peer-reviewed journal of scientific research, the Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Science Academy.

Students, teachers given steps up

Each year, the nonprofit academy hosts an annual conference where faculty, students and others lecture about their research. High school and college students have the opportunity to receive scholarships, grants and awards, and awards are also given to outstanding teachers and leaders in science.

Students are encouraged to network with other students and potential employers.

“The annual ANAS conference is one of the most student-friendly regional scientific conferences in the country,” said the academy’s board president, Paula Rivadeneira, a professor in the Department of Soil, Water, & Environmental Science at the University of Arizona in Yuma.

“For many of our students, it is their first time traveling away from home and their first time public speaking,” she said. “All students are eligible for awards, which is amazing for their self-esteem and professional development.”

Famous ANAS scholarship recipients

Many scholarship recipients have gone on to have major impacts in Arizona and the world.

Among them is the late Milton Sommerfeld, the “Wizard of Ooze.” Sommerfeld conducted groundbreaking research involving algae as a professor at Arizona State University and served as co-director of the .

Much of his legacy lies in the inception of the Laboratory of Algae Research and Biotechnology, the first national test bed for outdoor algae cultivation. Sommerfeld was instrumental in developing the Algae Testbed Public Private Partnership, which researchers and companies use for third-party technology verification.

Another famous recipient is the late Peter Ffolliott, a professor emeritus of watershed management at the University of Arizona in the

Ffolliott’s work in watershed, forestry and sustainable natural resource management has impacted communities and natural resource managers worldwide.

Yuma: shining star in agriculture highlighted this year

At the annual ANAS conference, participants learn about research on topics such as desert soil enrichment, plants that thrive in extreme heat and the Zika virus.

This year, the event was held in Yuma for the first time, highlighting the city’s prosperous farming community.

Known as the Lettuce Capital of the World, Yuma produces 90 percent of all leafy vegetables grown in the nation from November through March. Its agribusiness sector pumps $3.2 billion into the local economy annually, according to the .

The source of that impressive output lies in cutting-edge technology and rich soil, fed by sediments deposited by the Colorado River over millions of years.

“Our farmers are brilliantly smart. They understand everything about agriculture, from agronomy to advanced mathematics, to figure out how much fertilizer they need, what plant pathogens they are dealing with and how much of our scarce resources, like water, they need to use,” Rivadeneira said. “They really are very science-based, but not many people think of farming that way.”

Inviting university students from Mexico

This was the first time the academy extended an invitation to students in Mexico.

“With all of the negative news about our border, particularly here in Yuma County, I felt strongly about reaching out to my colleagues to the south to let them know that we value them as neighbors and as scientists,” Rivadeneira said.

In another first, local businesses paid all students’ conference costs in exchange for free advertising at the event, she said.

Energizing the academy’s work to promote science careers

Rivadeneira said she is working to create more public awareness and excitement about the academy as it nears its 65th anniversary in 2021.

“There is a renewed excitement about ANAS these days, because we are recruiting younger, more technologically-savvy board members and implementing new and innovative ideas to make our annual conference an even more exciting professional development and networking opportunity for students,” she said.

About ANAS

ANAS is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization. Its is comprised of professors, researchers and scientists from colleges, universities, organizations and agencies from Arizona and Nevada. Scholarships, grants, awards and events are all supported by membership dues and private donations.

To learn more about the academy, .

The post Nonprofit academy has fueled science education in the Southwest for 60+ years appeared first on 91ֱ��.