Dr. Joaquín Ruiz is a professor of geosciences at the University of Arizona, endowed by the Thomas R. Brown Foundations. He also serves as vice president of Global Environmental Futures and director of Biosphere 2, a project of UArizona. Last, but not least, Ruiz serves as co-chair of the Mining Committee at the Arizona-Mexico Commission.

From day to day, Ruiz manages Biosphere 2 and its many unique, powerful environmental experiments, and he also spends a lot of time educating both his students and the public about the environment, especially as it pertains to food growth, water usage and mining.

�鶹��ýӳ�� spoke with Ruiz about his work and his recent time as a board member of the Arizona-Mexico Commission. Read the full interview below.

Question: What do you do in your day-to-day work?

Answer: Managing Biosphere is one; but finding connections between the powerful environmental programs of the U of A with international partners — or national partners — I spend a lot of time doing that.

Q: Can you tell me more about ?

A: If you think about Biosphere 2, it has four components.

The first component [of the Biosphere] is the experiments that go inside the glass.

Right now, for example, we have an experiment on the fate of rainforests as they dry up, because as global climate change progresses, we worry that many of the big rainforests are going to be drying out; there’s going to be less rain.

The second [experiment] is: How do we protect corals? Again, as the temperature of the ocean warms up and the waters become more acidic, many corals are dying, and our interest is that corals are fundamental for the well-being of a lot of people in the world — either for tourism or because of fisheries.

The third [experiment] is: We have a big program in the fate of water in the Southwest as, again, climate changes. And, of course, our vegetation is going to change because of that, so the mass balance of water is going to be very different. So, there are huge experiments that cannot be done anywhere else.

The second part of the Biosphere is: We get about 100,000 tourists that show up every year, and we want to educate them about the environment.

The third part of the Biosphere is: We have a conference center in there, which we’re trying to develop into something like the of the Environment; not with Aspen, but that kind of concept.

And the fourth [part of the Biosphere] is that it’s an icon that we can then use to connect these partnerships.

I have three partnerships that are being worked on extensively right now. One of them is: ‘How do we make Mexico City more sustainable?’ We have a huge project with Mexico City, and we chose Mexico City because the partnerships we have there are great. And if we get Mexico City to be more sustainable, then we’ve done something at scale that can be then introduced to other big cities, like São Paulo, [Brazil], or Lagos, [Nigeria].

The second project that we have is a binational partnership — again with Mexico — to study the effects of climate change in semiarid environments, broadly speaking. So, we have groups between Mexican institutions and U of A institutions trying to understand a variety of issues that come from those changes in the desert, including mining, which is an important part of it.

We have a project that we’re developing, supported by the Jewish National Fund, creating a binational institute between the U of A — through the Biosphere — and a region in Israel called the Arabah, which is in southern Israel, in a region called the Negev Desert, which is one of the driest deserts [in the world].

And these folks have amazing water technology [in Israel]. They basically grow food in rocks with salty water; it’s just the most incredible thing. That’s a partnership we’re developing. And we have other things that we can offer to them, like growing mushrooms and other stuff that they don’t have, so it’s a great partnership. And, of course, education is in the middle of it, with students coming and going.

Q: When did you first get involved with the Arizona-Mexico Commission, and in what capacity?

A: I’ve gone to a variety of meetings, but then I was added to the board I’d say about four years ago. I’m now a board member of the Arizona-Mexico Commission, and I’m also the co-chair of the Mining Committee of the Arizona-Mexico Commission.

Q: What do you do with the Mining Committee?

A: What we’re always trying to find is ways to look for what makes us special in mining and how we can leverage that to create programs in which more mining companies would come in — or the industry that supports mining companies, like Komatsu or Caterpillar.

How do you approach all of the industry that surrounds mining, including making sure that mining is sustainable — which is a big deal now — and responsible? It’s always been responsible, but it’s basically more sustainable. And how do you do all that?

The mining industry is more and more interested in sustainable operations, not only because it’s good for the bottom line, but because it’s good for the environment and the people that work in mining. I’m spending a lot of time thinking about those kinds of things.

Q: How do you feel your unique expertise in environmental science and geology help the Arizona-Mexico Commission accomplish its goals in the mining sector?

A: One of them is simply personal. I was born in Mexico City, and I got my first degree there, and I know a lot of people — including people from the mining sector in Mexico — very, very well. So, the personal touch is important.

Secondly, I’m a geologist, so I’ve been working as a professor with many of my students doing research in ore deposits — in Mexico, in particular; in other parts of the world, too.

So, I understand the needs of the mining industry very well. I can speak the language, and there’s [the] trust and the connectivity that the AMC really is all about; I think I fit the bill in all those categories.

Q: What would you say is one of your most notable memories during the time that you’ve been with the AMC?

A: The various meetings in which our governor and the governor of Sonora clearly have a joint vision for the region. I’ve been quite impressed by that.

I was also fortunate to be [on] the very first trip that [Gov. Doug Ducey] took to Mexico City, and the recognition of how important [it is to have] a common vision with our neighbor… it’s been terrific.

If it hadn’t been for the AMC and its leadership, which, of course, includes the governor, I think, with all the narrative in both countries about what’s going on — if it wasn’t for the AMC and the governor and the governor of Sonora, who knows what kind of pickle we would be in, really?

Q: How has your work with the Arizona-Mexico Commission, and your other cross-border work, shaped your view of the Arizona-Mexico relationship?

A: Most of my relationship [with Mexico] before I joined the AMC was academic. I’ve been a professor all my life, and even though I’ve been working with [the] mining industry, it’s been through science research projects. And the AMC has broadened my view about the importance of the business part of it, which then allows me to be more effective in what I’m trying to do in these connections.

Q: In your opinion, what is the value of that relationship and fostering collaboration between Arizona and Mexico?

A: We speak highly of the business that we do across our border, and we cannot forget that a very large part of that is actually mining. So, there are a couple of issues: one of them is truly the importance of mining to our economy — we tend to forget that; secondly, the issues that the mining companies have to address to be successful in their business — and more and more there are environmental issues that are part of it.

All those things that, before, I was only dimly aware of, I am fully aware of now. My connection with them in the past was simply helping [the mining industry] find more ore, but now my view of the industry is way more holistic, and [I’m aware of] all of the issues that they need to address, not only simply finding more ore.

Q: In what ways do you feel you’ve seen the AMC grow or expand its scope since you’ve been involved?

A: Even in those four years, I can see the AMC — from the beginning, when I got on, to now — it is a much more effective entity, with clear directions and committees and subcommittees, and you can see that specifically when you go to these AMC conventions. And, I think that every year that I’ve been to one of these, they’ve been better — they’ve been more focused…

They’ve come up with important issues; there’s follow-up on them. So, it’s a much more effective organization than when I started in it.

Q: Is there a recent achievement, project or event that you want to share?

A: I think the most important one would be — there’s a mining company in Mexico called . They’re the largest silver producer in the world, and they’re listed in the . They’ve become more and more interested in Arizona through the University of Arizona, and they are more and more interested in sustainable mining.

And that, I think, would not have happened without two things: one of them, some of the programs at the U of A; but secondly, without the interest of the AMC, and [the AMC] allowing me to use that to have conversations with this company.

This is an exact transcript, but minor changes have been made for clarity.

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A packed Tempe hotel conference room was the site of a Thursday night public hearing on Resolution Copper, a proposed copper mine in northeast Pinal County near Superior, Ariz., that will be the nation’s largest once mining operations begin.

The hearing was the sixth in a series hosted by the Tonto National Forest, providing supporters and opponents of the project an opportunity to comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which assesses various environmental components related to the project in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act.

In addition to public hearings, the Forest Service has made resources , including environmental documents, informational videos and explanatory fact sheets about the mine’s effect on air quality, public safety and more.

“T��� U.S. Forest Service deserves tremendous credit for the work they’ve put into this draft EIS,” Arizona Mining Association Executive Director Steve Trussell said during his testimony. “T��� process has reached unprecedented levels of engagement and transparency. That is a testament to the way this process has been conducted.”

Supporters of the mine touted the responsible manner in which environmental concerns have been addressed as well as the project’s economic benefits.

The DEIS estimates the project will result in 3,700 jobs and approximately $1 billion in economic benefit — an estimate the Arizona �鶹��ýӳ�� of Commerce and Industry says might be too low.

“We believe that the Forest Service may have underestimated local tax revenues that will be realized through construction activities and new commercial development such as housing, hotels, retail and more, which will occur as a result of the operation,” �鶹��ýӳ�� spokesman Garrick Taylor said during his testimony.

Southern Arizona Business Coalition Vice President Rick Grinnell testified that the demand for copper is growing, which the Resolution project can help meet.

“Since 1950, the population of the world has gone from a little over 2.5 billion people to over 7.7 billion people— over 3 times,” Grinnell said. “Since 1950, the need of copper has gone up nine times and will continue to do so. We can’t live in a world today without mining.”

Anticipating the need for talented workers once the project comes online, Resolution Copper is partnering with schools in Superior to help prepare students for careers in the mining field and other industries.

“T���y are funding an incubator and entrepreneurship center in Superior to develop local small business,” Trussell said. “T���y have provided $1.2 million to the Superior School District and will modernize classrooms and enhance curriculum.”

The Resolution project was made possible by a federal land exchange under the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act, one of 80 land exchanges included in the bill. The project received bipartisan support from the Arizona congressional delegation at the time of the bill’s passage.

on the DEIS will be accepted until Nov. 7.

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Tucson is rapidly becoming a hotbed for innovation in Arizona, witnessing the origins of avant-garde startups and businesses trying to change the world of aerospace, optics, medicine and engineering through technology.

“T��� is big and getting bigger, with companies like Vector and World View coming online,” said Doug Hockstad, assistant vice president of , a program through the University of Arizona that helps university-based startups commercialize new products.

Another growing area is optics, the branch of physics that deals with light and vision — developing products like cameras, sensors, lasers and fiber optics.

The optics industry is beginning to permeate a lot of other tech fields: mining, one of Tucson’s most well-established industries; health, another growing industry in the region; and aerospace and defense.

“T���re’s a startup called Omniscient that started a couple years ago that has created a 360-degree viewing endoscope used for colonoscopies,” Hockstad said. “It could be used for other things as well, but the idea [is] that you get both a forward and a backward view as you’re using it, which is significantly more than currently exists.”

The Tucson area has been dubbed “Optics Valley” because of how much the industry has grown, he said.

“Optics Valley is… a committee that’s housed under the Arizona Technology Council, and they have a list of 40 optics companies,” said Michael Guymon, vice president of the Tucson Metro �鶹��ýӳ��. “Tucson has been known as Optics Valley, because we have one of the best optics schools in the country at the University of Arizona.”

Guymon said he thinks that most people would be surprised to learn that 40 optics companies call Tucson home.

“Most of those companies really fly under the radar,” he said. “Some of them are also startups themselves, but it just goes to show that there’s sort of this burgeoning technology infrastructure that is really being established here in Tucson.”

Large companies are also gaining traction in the Tucson area, Hockstad said.

“I’ve already mentioned and , but even Caterpillar moved one of their main sites down here,” he said.

When its Surface Mining and Technology Division to Tucson in 2016, the company “really planted the flag” in the region, Guymon said.

Many companies have grown and relocated to southern Arizona because they see a base of talented employees in the region, and “it always starts with workforce,” he said.

“We’ve seen this play out very well in the aerospace and defense industry, because obviously we have Raytheon with soon-to-be 13,000 employees out there, and we have 200 companies in southern Arizona that are here because of that presence,” Guymon said. “Not only is it the great school of aerospace and engineering that we have in the College of Engineering at the U of A, but we’re also developing other skills at Pima Community College that are relative to that industry.”

Cost is the other major factor drawing people to Tucson, and many companies are fleeing high living and business expenses in other states, especially California, he said.

“Arizona as a whole is experiencing some of that flight from California,” Guymon said. “Part of the reason for that is because of cost, whether it’s cost of living or cost of labor. Those companies are seeking out Arizona communities, because they can do those expansions or possibly relocate, because their cost of doing business will decrease.”

Tucson also sees a lot of startups — Hockstad’s area of expertise — especially at Tech Launch Arizona.

“We are the commercialization unit for the university,” Hockstad said. “We’re everything, from the very beginning when a researcher says, ‘hey, I think I’ve invented something really cool,’ to the market analysis of that invention, to the patent protection of that invention, to the marketing and license negotiations of that into a company.”

Not every commercialized product results in the launch of a startup business, but a subset of Tech Launch is dedicated to that process, he said.

There is a “growing ecosystem” for startups in Tucson and in Arizona as a whole, Hockstad said. Just in the past year or so there have been three or four venture funds established in the area, he said.

UAVenture Capital, a Tucson-based not affiliated with UA, helps finance startups originating at the university. The fund was founded in 2017 to drive local entrepreneurship and support the commercialization of products resulting from university-based research.

will cover a larger, multi-state region of the Southwest, and , a subgroup of Diamond Ventures, is focused on tech investments, Hockstad said.

New-business incubators are also helping nurture fledgling tech companies: UA announced a downtown Tucson-based incubator called , and the town of Oro Valley is getting ready to launch a new bioscience-based incubator called the , Hockstad said.

He said the most apt comparison to Tucson that he has heard is Austin, Texas, 10 years ago.

“T���re’s been a renaissance downtown; there is a huge number of startups, and a growing number of startups that are launching; there’s new incubators coming online; there’s new venture capital and new sources of funding,” he said.

South by Southwest, the nationally-renowned technology festival held in Austin each March, served as the inspiration for a new festival in Tucson: TENWEST.

Launched in 2014 by , TENWEST is a multi-disciplined festival of arts, sciences, tech and entrepreneurship that takes place each October in downtown Tucson. Participants can “learn, inform, network and explore their community,” according to the .

When asked who some of the biggest influencers in the Tucson area are, Hockstad pointed to Fletcher McCusker, of UAVenture Capital and a UA alumnus himself.

“He has been a driver of local entrepreneurship, the ability to grow companies locally, the ability to attract and fund them so they can stay here if they want,” Hockstad said. “He always stayed here when he started his companies.”

McCusker is also the chairman of the board at , a Tax Increment Finance District funded by state sales tax responsible for revitalizing the buildings and community of downtown Tucson to create a dynamic city center.

“He has been central in revitalizing downtown Tucson,” Hockstad said. “Combining everything he’s doing, he has been a major influence on what’s happening in Tucson.”

Hockstad also had positive words to say about UA Dr. Robert Robbins, who took the position in 2017.

“He is a force to be reckoned with,” Hockstad said about Robbins. “He has great vision, and he’s already implementing a new strategic plan, and a lot of it has to do with working with industry.”

Looking to the future, Guymon and Hockstad each expressed expectation for continued growth.

“We’re going to see higher levels of manufacturing here in our region,” Guymon said. “I think we’re going to see, certainly, an increase in startups and technology that is coming out of the University of Arizona.”

Hockstad said he thinks that within the next few years — though he is not sure how many — Tucson will be nationally-recognized as a hotbed for entrepreneurship.

“I think we’re going to see continued growth and success in this market, and I think we’re going to see some other markets, other places, looking to us for our experience,” he said.

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There’s a reason the state capitol has a copper dome, a copper star on the state flag, and a miner gracing the state seal. Mining is a $6.6 billion industry in Arizona with a legacy reaching back to the heyday of Tombstone and Jerome.

Today, Arizona is the number one producer of copper in the country and the second largest mine producing state. Yet even now, people have misconceptions about mining, said Steve Trussell, executive director of the Arizona Rock Products Association and the Arizona Mining Association that represent aggregate and hard rock mining in the state.

“One of the biggest misconceptions is about safety,” Trussell said. “Right now, our safety record is lower than retail. It’s lower than government and on par with education.

Intense regular training, daily safety meetings, and heightened vigilance are today’s world.

“T���se guys are serious,” Trussell said about employees. “T���y just won’t tolerate unsafe acts in the workplace.”

Other common myths about mining:

Wages are low

Mining requires highly trained laborers, managers and professionals including mining and planning engineers, geologists, metallurgists, and plant operations managers.

The median income in the mining industry in Arizona is $102,860, Trussell said.

Geoscience employees average $70,100 a year, according to data collected by the American Geosciences Institute. Laborers are paid higher than elsewhere because mining’s remote locations make it difficult to recruit workers.

“When I make presentations in schools, people are always surprised to find out what equipment operators are paid,” Trussell said.

Heavy equipment operators’ annual salaries in Arizona range from $36,000 to $52,600.

It’s a man’s industry

There are women in the industry, many who hold highly technical and highly degreed positions as well as labor jobs. About 13 percent of mining industry employees are women, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

At the School of Mines in Colorado, 28 percent of students are female, according to U.S. News & World Report.

“We have haul drivers and geologists who are women, and many in jobs that require a high attention to detail,” Trussell said.

Mining is destroying the environment

Government regulations, new technology, and mining companies’ commitment to cleaning up “orphan” mining sites have produced cleaner processes and reduced environmental impacts.

Now, there are a number of green practices: recycling waste, methane capturing techniques, zero discharge water programs, energy efficiency programs, and dust control. Mining companies also have reclaimed millions of acres of mined land and converted it into areas for public parks, recreation, and wildlife reserves, according to the U.S. Mining Association.

In Arizona, mines recycle 75 percent of the water they use, Trussell said.

Technology is outdated

Technology has become more advanced, not only in cleaner processes but in extraction of materials not accessible in the past. New technology makes safety equipment safer and can act as a replacement for humans in dangerous situations.

“We don’t put people in harm’s way when we can use robotics or drones,” Trussell said. “Instead of putting someone on a high piece of equipment, we’ll put up a drone.”

Mining is under regulated

There are federal laws that govern mining’s impact on the environment, and most states have their own regulations. Federal laws govern environmental abuses such as the release of hazardous substances, spillages, and airborne or water pollution.

“Some folks think this is an unregulated industry but if you look at the list of things we’re responsible for we are absolutely regulated on every front; air quality, solid waste, water quality, hazardous materials, and safety,” Trussell said.

Clearly, the days of old are gone.

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