'Today' at Biosphere 2

May 11, 2015

NBC’s “Today” show came to Arizona in late March to tape an update on Biosphere 2 and two of its original Biospherians, Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum. The segment is expected to air on Wednesday’s program.

Biosphere 2, a 3.1-acre structure, sits on a 40-acre campus about a half-hour outside of Tucson. It has been owned by the University of Arizona since July 2011, although the University has overseen research at the facility since 2007. Major research has involved issues pertaining to water and tropical forests.

Biosphere 2 hosted a conference in mid-April on food, energy and water that was sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

“It’s the biggest apparatus in the world that can do environmental research,” Joaquin Ruiz, dean of the UA’s College of Science, said of Biosphere 2. “We have a controlled environment unlike any other.”

John Adams, deputy director of Biosphere 2, said the facility is unique in another way, as well.

“We have an opportunity to translate our science to the general public in a lab that’s open every day,” he said.

Poynter and MacCallum are now involved with a Tucson-based company, World View Enterprises, that was founded two years ago and is exploring space tourism.

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