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| Summer Edition | |
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| Summer Edition | |
BY HANNAH FAIRFIELD
Columbia University's Biosphere 2 Center recently received a $960,000 grant from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation for research on how atmospheric changes affect the earth's ecosystems.
The five-year grant will allow a team of scientists to study the effects of varying temperatures and carbon dioxide levels on marine and forest environments by looking at coral reef and cottonwood tree biomes in Biosphere 2.
"Only in the Biosphere 2 facility, where temperature and CO2 can be carefully manipulated and the impact on coral and cottonwoods precisely measured, could an experiment like this be performed on such a large scale," said William Harris, president of Biosphere 2 Center.
Columbia's Biosphere 2, located in Oracle, Ariz., has seven biomes representative of ecosystems on Earth, the original biosphere. The Packard Foundation grant supports six distinct research projects for oceans and forests, which are the major areas of research about the earth's relationship to its atmosphere. Coral reefs were chosen because reefs in earth's oceans are threatened by ocean warming and increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The cottonwoods, fast-growing trees useful for laboratory study, may shed light into carbon dioxide exchange and forest respiration.
The research team is led by Wallace Broecker, Columbia's Newberry Professor of Earth and Environmental Science. Broecker is the recipient of the United States's highest recognition for scientific achievement, the President's Medal of Science and Technology. He also won the Blue Planet Award from Japan.
"What makes this grant so exciting is that it makes a clear statement about the value of using interdisciplinary research to address the most important problems facing our planet," Broecker said. "The team includes prominent researchers from earth and environmental sciences, plant biology and marine biology."
Because of Columbia's commitment to researching atmospheric effects on plant life at Biosphere 2, it was among a small group of elite universities selected to receive this first-ever grant from the Packard Foundation's Interdisciplinary Science program.
"This program was started because the Packard Foundation believes we must use an interdisciplinary approach to successfully attack and solve the key scientific problems of the next century," said Kenneth Ford, director of science programs at the Packard Foundation.
Columbia University assumed responsibility for Biosphere 2 in 1996. This is the largest, single research grant received by Columbia's Biosphere 2 Center.