• About UANews
• Sign up for News
• Resources for Media
• Calendar
• Contact Us

This fall, Biosphere 2 will offer a lineup of eight noted University of Arizona researchers to speak on a variety of timely issues.

By Jeff Harrison, University Communications
September 24, 2008

Visitors to The University of Arizona's Biosphere 2 this fall will be able to get a science lecture with their tour of the giant controlled-environment research facility in Oracle.

The B2 Institute has announced its fall 2008 "Let's Talk Science" public lecture series. The general audience lectures, presented by noted UA faculty members, will cover a number of topical issues in areas where the UA excels in research. 

The lectures, on eight consecutive Saturdays in October and November, all start at 11 a.m. in the Biosphere 2 theater, and are included with the cost of admission. Visitors interested in attending more than one lecture in the series should consider a Biosphere 2 membership.

Attend any of these lectures and for the price of adult tour admission, Biosphere 2 will upgrade the purchase to an individual membership, good for all science events and unlimited tours for one year. This offer also includes a complimentary admission that may be used on a repeat visit.

The fall program includes the following lectures and dates:

• Oct. 4, "Spying on Mars with the HiRISE Camera" by Alfred McEwen, UA department of planetary sciences/Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
• Oct. 11, "Hillslopes in Action: Turning Rainfall into Runoff" by Peter Troch, UA department of hydrology and water resources
• Oct. 18, "Applications of Radiocarbon Dating from Art to Climatic Change" by Tim Jull, UA department of geosciences
• Oct. 25, "Hillslope Processes on Mars" by Jon Pelletier, UA department of geosciences
• Nov. 1, "Sustainable Energy" by Feryal Ozel, UA department of physics
• Nov. 8, "Drought, Wildfires and Anasazi: Ancient and Modern Tales that Tree-Rings Tell" by Tom Swetnam, director, UA Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research
• Nov. 15, "How Strange Can Life Be?" by Chris Impey, UA department of astronomy/Steward Observatory
• Nov. 22, "Carcinogens in the Environment: Separating Fact from Fiction" by Jim Gentile, president, Research Corporation for the Advancement of Science

The UA's B2 Institute addresses scientific "grand challenges" whose solutions require the combined expertise of a broad range of scientific fields and diverse interdisciplinary talents. As part of its mission, the B2 Institute is helping the state of Arizona address its emerging challenges of extreme growth and fragile environment.

The B2 Institute initiates, hosts and sponsors extended programs as well as shorter, broadly attended conferences held on the Biosphere 2 campus. Themes range from sustainable energy sources, global climate change and water management to astrobiology, physics research on string theory and K-12 science education.

To enhance these activities and build additional bridges to the community the B2 Institute also engages in extensive outreach programs with public lectures, an artist-in-residence and a journalist-in-residence programs, as well as a number of other activities in the planning stages. The institute also collaborates closely with B2 Earthscience and its growing "citizen-scientist" programs.

B2 Institute and B2 Earthscience outreach programs are expected to benefit from the recently established Biosphere 2 Membership Program, which is designed to encourage repeat visits and to engage members in the Biosphere 2 program to showcase, interpret and share the remarkable work carried out by UA's faculty, students and staff.

Biosphere 2 is located north of Tucson on Oracle Road (Highway 77) at mile Ppst 96.5. Tours are 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.

More information about Biosphere 2, including admission and directions to the facility, can be found online at www.B2science.org, or by calling 520-838-6200.