Humberto Chavarria is a chemistry major at IU South Bend who was selected to participate in a competitive, paid REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) this past summer funded by the National Science Foundation at the University of Arizona’s Biosphere 2 research facility. Although he will graduate at the end of this academic year as chemistry major, Chavarria intends to pursue a graduate degree in geology. The two fields are not unrelated as the determination of the chemical composition of soils and rocks is very important and can tell scientists a great deal about the environment's geological history and future potential. Chavarria describes his research experience in the following paragraph.
"For 10 weeks, I got to spend my time in Oracle and Tucson, Arizona to do research for the University of Arizona at the Biosphere 2 facility along with 12 other students from around the country. Biosphere 2 is an earth science research facility that currently houses 7 biomes, each closed and controlled, including a tropical rainforest, mangrove wetlands, fog desert, and an ocean with a coral reef. My research project was on the soils used in the rainforest biome. The Biosphere could not get real rainforest soils due to the pricing, shipping restrictions, and disposal requirements, so the crew decided to create their own mixture of soil using local desert soil, sand, pumice, peat, and several other organic materials. My partner and I analyzed the soils to determine if they were changing to mimic real rainforest soils. We measured pH levels and electrical conductivity and finished with a cation exchange capacity procedure. We then compared the data to previous data collected to find any trends and then presented our results at the Desert Museum for the public and once again at the UROC convention for the university. My research impacts the Biosphere by giving future researchers necessary information for future projects such as a drought experiment in the rainforest biome. Other current projects that are being worked at Biosphere 2 include possibilities and strategies to revive coral reefs and agrivoltaics, and the technique of utilizing the same plots of land for both solar energy and agriculture, which is currently showing promising results."
