Media advisory:Contact: Anita Cota
(520) 896-6410

For the First Time, Public Can Tour Inside Biosphere 2

The question most often asked by visitors to Biosphere 2 is, "Why can't I go inside the Biosphere?" Beginning Tuesday, Nov. 26, the answer to that question will be, "Now you can!"

At 10:30 A.M., Monday, Nov. 25, media are invited to preview what the public will see when they enter the famous domed facility. Opening ceremonies will follow the media tour and are planned for noon.

Columbia University, Biosphere 2 Center's new manager, has transformed the human habitat, once home to 15 "Biospherians" in two separate missions, into a science center dedicated to the Earth and environmental sciences.

A 32-part hands-on exhibit, "Climate Change and Life on Earth," has been installed on the ground level of the facility. Visitors upstairs will be able to tour the areas - apartments, kitchen and dining room - where the Biospherians once lived. Also on the second floor is the control room, where data collected by hundreds of sensors within Biosphere 2's desert, ocean, savannah, rainforest and intensive agricultural area are processed and studied.

You are invited to cover. Please contact Anita Cota, (520) 896-6410 to reserve a place for the media tour. She will need names of reporters, photographers and videographers planning to attend.

11.19.9619,007

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