People & Partners

The CMATE collaboration builds on the legacy of renowned UA archaeologist Emil Haury and Andrew E. Douglass the founding father of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research and inventor of dendrochronology.

It was by Haury's vision that the UA Radiocarbon Laboratory was established, and through collaboration with the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research Willard Libby's "Curve of Knowns" was developed and tested.

Together Douglass and Haury investigated the history of the great Southwestern cliff dwellings and ancient pueblo ruins. Using dendrochronology they discovered that a great drought in the 1280s corresponded with a sudden and massive migration of Native Americans from the Colorado Plateau to the Rio Grande in New Mexico. Over the years we have learned that a complex set of factors, including drought, were likely responsible for this mass migration, and a common historical pattern emerges: climate change sometimes triggers societal upheaval, especially when ecological and social factors combine to make human systems particularly vulnerable.

Another thing we have learned is that such complex interrelationships are most successfully unraveled by a multidisciplinary collaborative approach. In this way CMATE people and partners across a variety of departments and programs at the University of Arizona will investigate how human and environmental factors have affected the course of human history.

Early planning of CMATE is guided by the Steering Committee, members of which are denoted by asterisks in the list on the right. The Steering Committee also includes Malcolm H. Wiener as an Honorary Member.

Please use the links on the right to explore further, or contact a CMATE representative directly using the details below.