Prev. Article Next Article Table of Contents

Report

Biosphere 2: A Place for Integrative Studies in Chemical Research and Chemical Education in Defense of Planet Earth

Your current credentials do not allow retrieval of the full text.

Purchase the full-text

PDF/HTML,
figures/images,
references and tables,
(where available)

Deborah Colodner , Leonard Fine , William Harris and Bhawani Venkataraman

Biosphere 2 Center, 39520 South Oracle Road, Oracle, AZ 85750

J. Chem. Educ., 2001, 78 (2), p 144

DOI: 10.1021/ed078p144

Publication Date (Web): February 1, 2001

Abstract

Closing in on its 250th birthday, the fifth oldest university in the United States has recently demonstrated its remarkable resilience by establishing a "western" campus at the Biosphere 2 Center (in the desert of Arizona). In so doing, Columbia University (in the city of New York) has made a commitment to what may well be the ultimate problem of the 21st century--the environment. We describe a number of seminal programs that cut across the traditional domains of education, research, and public outreach. Included are an Earth Semester; a model for graduate student training and education; and a broadly interdisciplinary collaborative research program in chemistry. At the same time, we have not forgotten to include some of the relevant history of the Biosphere 2 Laboratory.