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FEATURE ARTICLE
UA and CNRS Launch Joint Research Unit on Water, Environment, and Policy

UA and French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) Inaugurate Joint International Unit on Water, Environment and Public Policy

University of Arizona President Robert Shelton and the Hon. David Martinon, the consul general of France in Los Angeles, were among the featured speakers at the inaugural ceremony for the Joint International Unit (Unité Mixte Internationale, UMI) on Water, Environment and Public Policy, held October 10 in the courtyard of the Udall Center.

The UMI is a research enterprise of the UA and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), and is housed at the Udall Center.

The joint venture promotes research partnerships between the UA and CNRS and expands research funding opportunities, comparing water resources management and governance in the Southwest U.S., the Americas, France, the European Union, and elsewhere.

The agreement between the UA and CNRS, initially for four years, was facilitated by the collaborative efforts of Udall Center Deputy Director Robert Varady and Dr. Graciela Schneier-Madanes, a senior researcher and director of “rés-EAU-ville” (an urban water research network) at CNRS. Schneier-Madanes is also a visiting professor at the Udall Center.

Varady directs the UMI, with Schneier-Madanes as deputy director.

Three French scientists already have visited the UA, three currently are assigned to the UMI, and others are expected to arrive over the course of the UMI’s implementation. At the same time, UA researchers are expected to work with French and European colleagues in France and elsewhere.

Additional speakers at the inauguration included representatives from the French Embassy, the French Consulate in Los Angeles, and CNRS, and UA scientists.

Contacts: Robert Varady at rvarady@u.arizona.edu or Graciela Schneier-Madanes at schneier@u.arizona.edu, or by phone at (520) 626-4393.

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