The CALS Office of Arid Lands Studies (OALS) is an interdisciplinary research, knowledge transfer, and instruction unit. Since its founding forty years ago, OALS has been devoted to (1) discovering new economic resources offered by the unique plant and animal life found in arid lands, (2) developing new techniques for reclaiming land and water (particularly sewage) for productive reuse, (3) monitoring agriculture and natural resources over large areas using satellite data, and (4) disseminating information on arid land management through knowledge transfer (extension), and through the use of digital media, including the World Wide Web. The work of OALS has been supported by local, state, Federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations in the US, agencies of other governments (e.g., European Union, Saudi Arabia), many of the United Nations family of agencies, and through collaborative efforts with the private sector. OALS has worked in virtually all the arid and semiarid regions of the world including central, south and west Asia, west, east and southern Africa, and North and South America. Finally, OALS actively supports the graduate interdisciplinary doctoral program in Arid Lands Resource Sciences.