Vice President & Charles-Sander Dean Shane Burgess

Welcome to the College of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Arizona, a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) college strategically fulfilling two missions: to educate students and communities in ways that enable their future success in regional and global economies, and to develop new knowledge and new technologies to benefit society.

Today it is critical that universities apply accountable, sound business practices. We need to be where the world is going, not where it is today, and so in our college we continually review what we are doing; we continually make small changes as soon as we identify a better path forward for you. We need every dollar delivering for our missions. Informing all of our goals are the Arizona Board of Regents metrics and UArizona's strategic plan. Take a look at our strategic plan.

Producing employable graduates, who can do jobs that do not yet exist and create new jobs

Are you applying to UA or considering a new major? We want you to know about our first-class education, advising services and career preparation. Visit our schools and departments; explore main campus and the Tucson area.

Do you want to be a range manager, dietitian, race track industry professional, geneticist, environmental lawyer, medical doctor, pharmacist, engineer, wildlife biologist or retail executive? The oldest college in all of Arizona’s three universities, we deliver 36 degrees directly related to your future success in the marketplace. We can prepare you for over 140 careers where our alumni are already finding success.

A leading economic development engine for Arizona

From cutting-edge basic to applied research, with direct effects on Arizona’s economy, we’re doing it across seven priority areas that have impacts across the globe.

We are leading a $4.7 million project funded by the USDA to promote climate-smart food production practices and help growers reduce water consumption and carbon emissions; utilizing centuries of knowledge from Indigenous farmers in the Southwest to help growers across the country address water scarcity; setting the standard for precision nutrition and focusing on how ancestry and diet affect disease to help people live better, healthier lives; partnering with the USDA and private industry to research the viability of guayule, a resilient, water-efficient shrub, as a commercial crop for producing natural rubber for tires and co-products including biofuels; and revolutionizing retail, business, and consumer science research and instruction using innovative technology.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, CALES researchers established wastewater-based epidemiology as an early-detection system on campus, a model that was adopted in Yuma to support industry during its growing season, and eventually by 250 universities and 54 countries.

Join us.