Feb. 14, 2002
New path opens at Biosphere 2
By Thomas Stauffer
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
If you go
Costs: Regular admission to Columbia University's Biosphere 2 Center is
$12.95 for adults, $8.95 for children ages 12 and over and $6 for children
ages 6 to 12. Children under 6 are admitted free.
The new inside-the-dome tour, called "World of Discovery Tour," is an
additional $10 for adults and children over age 6.
Children under 6, strollers and wheelchairs can't be accommodated on the
walkway because of ongoing, active research areas.
The new tour is available seven days a week from 8:30 a.m to 5 p.m., but
the schedule is subject to research restrictions.
Biosphere 2 also offers 16 public stargazing nights each year at its
observatory, which features a 24-inch telescope. Stargazing admission is $10
for adults; $5 for children 6 to 12.
Getting there: From Tucson, take North Oracle Road north through Oro
Valley and Catalina. At Oracle Junction, bear right on Arizona 77 and drive
six miles to the Bio-sphere 2 entrance, at mile marker 96.5. Turn right at the
blue flag and follow the signs.
More information:> Call 1-520-896-6200 or log onto www.bio2.edu.
Discover more about Biosphere 2, including visitor information and the
history of the structure. Also, view a
slide show of what tourists can see when they visit. Only at
www.azstarnet.com/exploreaz.
Or visit the Biosphere 2 site for more information on the "Under the Glass Adventure" tour.
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Columbia University's Biosphere 2 Center opened a new tour Wednesday
that allows visitors to experience the 3.1-acre laboratory from inside the
glass.
For the first time since the $150 million structure was built more than a
decade ago, visitors wind through several different ecosystems on a fully
guided tour that takes about an hour.
"It was fantastic in there," said Allie Deaver of Minot, N.D. "It was worth
the money, and I'd do it again."
Admission to the new tour is $10 in addition to the $12.95 regular
admission to Biosphere 2.
Visitors come through the airlock of the lab along a catwalk some 60 feet
above ground level. The trail leads through a canopy of acacia trees in the
upper savanna biome, then leads to a cliff overlook above the Biosphere 2
ocean.
The ocean biome, which simulates a Caribbean reef and holds 1 million
gallons of salt water, is the subject of 18 research projects, said Barry
Osmond, Biosphere 2 Center president and executive director.
From there, the trail gradually descends into a lower savanna biome
dominated by grass species, then a coastal mangrove, a subtropical
thornscrub area and a coastal fog desert.
The coastal desert mimics an ecosystem similar to the Vizcaino subdivision
of the Sonoran Desert found in Baja California, while the other biomes
mimic subtropical areas not unlike regions in northern Mexico, said John
Adams, associate director of public outreach.
From there, visitors get a glimpse of the Biosphere's guts, a series of
massive air conditioners, pipes and instruments with dials and valves.
A 150-foot underground tunnel then leads into a geodesic dome that houses
"the lung," which was used to regulate air pressure when the environment
was sealed.
A 26-ton disk of aluminum sits on pillars in the middle of the room, with
curtains of thick rubber lining the perimeter of the disk.
When air heated up in the sealed Biosphere 2, it would flow into the tunnel
and push up this diaphragm of rubber and aluminum to regulate the air
pressure.
The new 800-foot trail serves a dual purpose, providing visitors with a more
intimate tour of Biosphere 2 and giving researchers and students better
access, Osmond said.
The trail also minimizes the human impact those researchers and students
have as they study the delicate ecosystems, Adams said.
"Without compromising ongoing scientific experiments, we're satisfying our
three key missions - education, research and public outreach," said Chris
Bannon, chief of staff and vice president.
Osmond thanked the workers who built the $200,000 trail "on schedule and
under budget," then cut the red, white and blue ribbon stretched across the
4-foot-wide pathway.
The first public tour swung through the area within minutes of the
ribbon-cutting Wednesday.
Tours of 25 people will walk the trail at 30-minute intervals, Adams said.
"We could get those down to intervals of about 20 minutes," he said.
"But we are a research facility, and there will also be times when the tours
could be abbreviated or even suspended when research takes precedence."
Contact Thomas Stauffer at 573-4197 or at stauffer@azstarnet.com.
