Under New Management, Biosphere 2 Explores Research Opportunities
Blueprints for a Greenhouse Long plagued by logistical problems and dogged by controversy, the troubled Biosphere 2, under new management, is attempting to revitalize one of the most criticized aspects of the program--the quality of its science. Since the summer, more than a dozen geologists, biogeochemists, ecologists, and climate modelers have visited the 3.15-acre Oracle, Ariz., facility--the world's largest enclosed artificial
Long plagued by logistical problems and dogged by controversy, the troubled Biosphere 2, under new management, is attempting to revitalize one of the most criticized aspects of the program--the quality of its science.
Since the summer, more than a dozen geologists, biogeochemists, ecologists, and climate modelers have visited the 3.15-acre Oracle, Ariz., facility--the world's largest enclosed artificial ecosystem--to evaluate its potential experimental uses and have made recommendations, in a series of "white papers," for various investigations that might take advantage of its unique features. The evaluation is part of an effort by the new management team to generate a long-term scientific plan and restructure the enterprise as a full-scale research center. The scientists' proposals span three broad areas of possible study within the facility: biogeochemical cycles; ecology and plant biology; and modeling systems.
A member of the new team of scientific consultants who is quite familiar...
Interested in reading more?
Become a Member of
