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Biosphere 2 is the research venue for STEM-focused high school students this week.

By Lori Stiles, University Communications
September 8, 2009

Seventy-eight high school sophomores who are among the first to attend a new, one-of-a-kind STEM-focused school within the Cleveland, Ohio, city school system are conducting research at The University of Arizona Biosphere 2 this week.

The students attend MC2STEM High School, a project-based, year-round, open-enrollment school that emphasizes "STEM" curriculum – science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The innovative high school, now in its second year, is the first Ohio STEM school funded under Ohio House Bill 119, which authorizes financial support and partnerships critical to the development of STEM education. It serves Cleveland Metropolitan School District students who live in the inner city and the first-ring suburbs.

The Ohio-to-Arizona field trip was funded by private donations, which includes support from the Gates Foundation, The Cleveland Foundation and the George Gund Foundation.

"We are excited to have been given the opportunity to host this visionary program," said Pierre Meystre, director of the B2 Institute. "It fits squarely within the Biosphere 2 mission of addressing the daunting STEM education grand challenge. 

"The work with MC2STEM complements and enriches beautifully other existing and planned programs at the B2 Institute, such as the Arizona Center for STEM Teachers, which is jointly funded by Science Foundation Arizona and the Philecology Foundation," Meystre said. 

"We expect to learn a great deal from our interaction with MC2STEM, including possible ways to implement similar programs in Arizona in the future."

"This is the biggest educational event of this kind that Biosphere 2 has hosted since the UA began managing this facility," said Matt Adamson, Biosphere 2 education and outreach coordinator.

The UA, under the auspices of the College of Science, assumed management of Biosphere 2 in June 2007.

The MC2STEM students, plus about a dozen school staff, partner educators and parents, moved into Biosphere 2's casita village last Sunday. Students began organizing their field and laboratory research tasks Monday.

"The research the students will be conducting is part of an ongoing study of the diversity and stability of life, and biological factors that influence biological diversity and stability," said Jeff McClellan, head of the MC2STEM High School.

Three of their four biology-based research projects were developed by UA scientists working with Javier Espeleta, associate director for science at Biosphere 2:

• Volatile gases: Students will collect and analyze gases emitted from different plants and soils inside Biosphere 2. UA post-doctoral research associate Kolby Jardine and research technician Evan Sommer supervise this project.

• Soil evolution: Students will compare physical and chemical differences in soils from the different biomes, or Biosphere 2 ecosystems. UA research assistant professor Katerina Dontsova and research technician Whitney Henderson supervise this project.

• Evapo-transpiration: Students will collect data on how plants and trees influence the way water evaporates from the soil. The data will be used for an ongoing scientific study directed by UA doctoral candidate Juan C. Villegas. Villegas and research technician Ashley Weide supervise this project.

In the fourth project, microbiology, students will use DNA techniques to study the diversity of bacteria and chemicals in the soil. Before their trip to Arizona, the students worked closely for two weeks with staff from Hiram College's Genomics Academy, studying the makeup of soil from the Cleveland area. They will compare and analyze differences between the Tucson and Cleveland soils.

Students will present their research results in a Friday afternoon poster session in the Biosphere 2 theater. Ohio educators, dignitaries and perhaps legislators are slated to fly to Tucson to attend the presentation.

But the week won't all be science for the Cleveland high schoolers.

On Friday, they'll have the chance to visit the UA main campus, Catalina State Park, go horseback riding, and sample other activities for a taste of Arizona culture and history, Adamson said.