Dr. Kevin Gurney and Pawlok Dass, have been exploring the relationship between new data on daily traffic and the number of COVID-19 cases in the United States. The analysis shows that prior to the end of March, U.S. traffic activity—a useful proxy for a return to pre-COVID economic activity—declined rapidly as the number of COVID-19 cases increased. However, since that time, traffic activity and COVID-19 cases have been exhibiting strong regional patterns, with states such as California and Texas… Read more
Forests can be risky climate investments to offset greenhouse gas emissions, say NAU scientists
Professor Scott Goetz of Northern Arizona University’s School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems and associate professor Deborah Huntzinger of NAU’s School of Earth and Sustainability co-authored a paper published in Science finding that forests can be best deployed in the fight against climate change with a proper understanding of the risks to forests that climate change itself imposes. Given the tremendous ability of forests to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, some governments are counting… Read more
NAU researchers testing northern Arizona wastewater for early warning of COVID-19 outbreaks
With the ongoing challenges associated with large-scale testing for COVID-19—including test kit shortages, stringent testing criteria and the inherent limitations of current tracking systems on mildly symptomatic and asymptomatic populations, scientists are looking for alternate methods to boost testing in order to predict the spread of the disease. Crystal Hepp, an assistant professor in NAU’s School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems (SICCS),… Read more
NAU scientists develop interactive disease models to predict spread of COVID-19 across northern Arizona
Joe Mihaljevic, a mathematical epidemiologist and assistant professor in Northern Arizona University’s School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems (SICCS), is leading a new project to create computer modeling systems to predict outcomes of the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, across four northern Arizona counties—Coconino, Navajo, Apache and Mohave. Read more
Novel NAU study shows past extinctions have increased the number of present-day infectious diseases
SICCS assistant professor Chris Doughty has long studied megafauna and their role on planet Earth. With the world fighting the spread of COVID-19, Doughty and his team have turned to these large mammals for answers. They found that their extinction led to the emergence of zoonotic infectious diseases in humans. Read more.
NAU labs work to support medical facilities amid COVID-19 crisis
The Wearable Informatics Lab at SICCS, is a team of both undergraduate and graduate students from a variety of academic disciplines, led by Assistant professor Dr. Kyle Winfree. Their projects are focused on designing and fabricating wearable technology that improves health care. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wearable Informatics Team of students and faculty have refocused their capabilities to produce face… Read more