Scientists from 13 different universities in the U.S. and Canada have descended upon a small house at the J.J. Pickle Research Campus and have brought with them the most sophisticated air pollution measurement equipment on earth to study indoor air quality as part of a major research effort known as HOMEChem (House Observations of Microbial and Environmental Chemistry).

Much of Texas and the southwest U.S. are in some stage of drought or abnormally dry conditions, now is a good time to take a look at land degradation in our own state and at what role Planet Texas 2050 can play in helping to understand and combat the problem.

We are a group of faculty and researchers from The University of Texas at Austin working with communities across the state to ensure this is a healthy, secure, just, and ecologically and economically vibrant place to live in the year 2050. This is UT Austin’s first grand challenge — an enormous, interdisciplinary research project that’s trying to tackle some of our society’s most pressing environmental and humanitarian crises.