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The "under the glass" tours now include the only rain forest in a desert.

By University Communications
February 5, 2008

The University of Arizona's Biosphere 2 will open the Brazilian rain forest inside its 3.14-acre glass-enclosed living laboratory to the public for the first time on Friday.

"This will be the first time ever that Biosphere 2 visitors will be able to take 'under the glass' tours where they can see and smell the only rain forest in the desert," Biosphere 2 Director Travis Huxman said. The expanded tours, which also include many new multimedia displays, will be the Biosphere 2's most comprehensive tours to date, he added.

Huxman will host opening ceremonies and lead the first expanded tour through the $150 million living laboratory beginning at 10:30 a.m.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for visitors to experience this magnificent facility," Huxman said. "Careful planning went into opening this part of Biosphere 2 to avoid disturbing the complex ecosystems inside. The science staff and technicians who planned and constructed the new walkway in the rain forest have done an excellent job."

Huxman, an associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, directs research on water and global climate change at Biosphere 2. He's also on a UA-led international project that uses the Biosphere 2 rain forest to study how global climate change affects Brazil's Amazon rain forests.

The National Science Foundation-funded project is called the Partnership for International Research and Education-Amazonia, or Amazon-PIRE. The grant includes $1.5 million for stipends and fellowships to support students and early-career scientists working both in the Amazon and in Biosphere 2's tropical rainforest.

PIRE students will conduct experiments within the tropical forest biome at UA's Biosphere 2 and work with Brazilian scientists and students through exchanges at Brazilian scientific institutions.

"Our project has a globally important scientific goal – which is to figure out how climate changes affect Amazon forests. And there's an educational goal – to help transform science education so the next generation of scientists will be successful in an increasingly globalized scientific community," said principal investigator Scott Saleska, an assistant professor in UA's department of ecology and evolutionary biology.

"Biosphere 2's rainforest biome is a place where those goals meet in front of the public, and where the public can see how day-to-day science goes about addressing these important global challenges."

Biosphere 2's tropical rain forest grows under rainfall and temperature conditions typical of a natural rain forest in the western hemisphere tropics. It includes more than 150 species of plants, ranging in size from less than a foot to more than 60 feet tall.

Visitors can now walk along an overland pathway through the lowland of the rain forest ecosystem.

"We built a working trail for researchers and students, as well as an interesting and educational trail for visitors," Huxman said. "Without compromising ongoing scientific experiments, we're satisfying our three key missions – education, research and public outreach."

"Visitors now have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to explore Biosphere 2 in an informative and entertaining one-hour tour, and that's exciting," Huxman said.

The new, expanded Biosphere 2 tour is available seven days a week during visiting hours, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Some areas of the Biosphere 2 tour are occasionally closed because of ongoing research.

Visitors can check for more information on days they plan to visit by telephone, 520-838-6200, or online at www.b2science.org. Admission to Biosphere 2 costs $20 for adults, $13 for children ages 6 and older, and free for children 5 and under. Strollers and wheelchairs cannot be accommodated on the tour trails because the facility is structured for active research.