Reprint from March 1, 2013

www.B2science.com

biosphere 2: a brief history An experiment in place and time

Biosphere 2 is located in scenic house has been renovated as an main apparatus began in January high-desert country in Pinal County administration building (Suffolk 1987 and concluded in September 20 miles north of Tucson, Arizona. House), and other structures have 1991. The first mission lasted from Situated at an elevation of 3,900 feet been converted to bungalows for September 1991 to September 1993 in the foothills of the Santa Catalina faculty and visitor accommodation. in which four men and four women Mountains, Biosphere 2 is at the In 1969, after Lady Margaret’s lived inside Biosphere 2’s sealed, center of a developed campus that death, the estate was sold to energy-rich environment, growing covers 250 acres. Motorola Corporation. Motorola all of their food and recycling Once a Native American hunting constructed a management training their air, water and wastes. The ground, this area was identified for institute featuring an airstrip, experiment was an outstanding its mining potential in the late 1870s. guest suites, meeting rooms and success in engineering terms but As more mining claims appeared, a a dining area. In 1979 the property failed as a sustainable planetary cattle ranch and boarded house were was donated to the University of ecosystem analog. established, and the nearby town of Arizona Foundation. The Foundation The main factor contributing to photosynthetic capacity of plants Oracle began to grow. used the property for corporate and a dramatic imbalance in oxygen and to assimilate it and regenerate In the 1920s, a Canadian dentist educational retreats until 1984, when carbon dioxide was the abundant oxygen. The excess carbon dioxide homesteaded the the Cañada del it sold the property to the founders microbes living in the extremely was absorbed by the structure’s Oro Ranch, just west of Oracle, on of Biosphere 2 (Space Biosphere rich organic soil of the rainforest unsealed concrete, and oxygen what would become Biosphere 2 Ventures Inc.). and farm areas. The soil supported levels declined rapidly. With a leak property. He lived there until his The next ten years were devoted rapid growth of the synthetic rate of less than 10 percent per retirement in 1957, when he sold to the design, construction and model ecosystems and crops in year, this imbalance of oxygen the to Lady Margaret, Countess of initial experiment phases of the Biosphere 2, with rice yields as good production, so vital for human life, Suffolk. During Lady Margaret’s Biosphere 2 project. The project’s as the world’s best. However, the caused the experiment to become ownership, a Spanish-style home— early goals called for the design soil’s metabolism was so active unsustainable. A shorter second complete with a pool, servants’ of an enclosed facility with that it affected the environment’s mission was carried out in 1993-94. quarters and garage—was built. simulated environments that atmospheric composition. Oxygen In April 1994, the project owner, Lady Margaret retained ownership of could be occupied by humans was absorbed from the air by soil Edward P. Bass, brought in new man- the ranch until 1968. Today the ranch to demonstrate the inter- microbes. These released huge agement to restructure the organi- property surrounds Biosphere 2. connectedness of humans and the amounts of carbon dioxide from the zation and research focus. He invited The pool has been removed, the environment. Construction of the soil back to the air, exceeding the scientists from Columbia University to serve in an advisory capacity. In January 1996, Columbia Univer- sity expanded its role and took full responsibility for research, education, and public outreach activities at Biosphere 2. On December 23, 2003, Columbia University discontinued its management of the Biosphere 2. In July 2007, the University of Arizona assumed management at Biosphere 2 with a vision of under- standing complex environmental systems by engaging both the scien- tific community and the public, inte- grating large-scale experimentation with computational modeling, and advancing awareness of the environ- mental and resource challenges. Four years later, the University of Arizona was gifted the 40-acre Biosphere 2 campus and facilities.

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