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| Vol. 24, No. 16 | March 4, 1999 |
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| Vol. 24, No. 16 | March 4, 1999 |
BY FAYE S. YATES
Volvo CEO Leif Johansson and Columbia President George Rupp-linked by satellite from Stockholm and Manhattan, respectively-teamed up at Biosphere 2 Center in Oracle, Ariz. recently, to announce a partnership advancing environmental education.
At the core of the partnership are three new programs at Columbia's Biosphere 2 environmental research facility. Johansson announced that Volvo will provide $1 million this year and $500,000 in each succeeding year to create and maintain the programs, which include scholarships, an interactive exhibit on the impact of automobile use and the development of a new course on environmental management.
"The Columbia/Volvo partnership is based on shared values," explained Rupp. "Volvo, like Columbia, has a long history of commitment to environmental concern." Echoing these sentiments, Johansson said, "We are two very high-quality institutions with a great deal of concern for the environment."
Although Biosphere 2 Center has more than 15 university partners, this is the first industrial partnership it has forged.
"We hope it is the first of many," said William Harris, Biosphere 2 Center president and CEO.
Harris said that the idea for the partnership developed after Volvo made a stop last year at Biosphere 2 in the company's bi-fueled car. At that time, Volvo officials learned about the Center's focus on the environment. In the fall, Harris and Columbia's Executive Vice Provost Michael Crow traveled to Brussels to attend the Volvo Environmental Prize ceremony and to meet with Johansson to draft the partnership agreement.
Details on the partnership's three programs are as follows:
1. The Volvo Environmental Scholars Program. Volvo is providing 10 full scholarships each semester, each worth more than $13,000, for qualified students to attend Earth Semester.
Modeled on the "semester abroad" concept, Earth Semester combines traditional classroom teaching, hands-on research and targeted field trips in an intense learning experience that immerses undergraduate students in learning about the Earth and environment as a complex, integrated system.
The semester, taught twice a year (spring and fall), focuses on human, social and economic aspects as well as on physical and biological dimensions of planetary stewardship. The group of Volvo Scholars enrolled in Earth Semester this semester are from throughout the country and are pictured here in front of the glass-enclosed Biosphere 2 research and exhibit facility.
2. A new exhibit for Biosphere 2. Exhibit experts from Volvo and Biosphere 2 Center worked together to produce and install a new interactive exhibit designed to teach the public about the environmental impact of automobile use.
The 15-foot exhibit allows visitors to watch a pinball wend its way through a gasoline pump, a car's exhaust pipe and other obstacles representing environmental effects of modern transportation. The exhibit was unveiled at the press conference and is now a part of the regular guided tour through Biosphere 2, which attracts more than 200,000 visitors each year.
3. Creation of a learning unit. Volvo and Biosphere 2 Center are co-authoring a three-week-long course module on environmental management to be used as part of Earth Semester. The unit, "Consumption, Technology and Environmental Impact," will be integrated into the course beginning next fall.
Columbia took on management of Biosphere 2 in 1996. Biosphere 2 is now a unit in the Columbia Earth Institute.