I approach Biosphere 2, couched in the cacti-ornamented hills of the Sonoran Desert and surrounded by mountain peaks. I’m enamored with the unusual tale of this larger-than-life science project, but have come to terms with the fact that for the generation that came of age in the 1990s, the memory of Biosphere 2 will likely forever […]
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A Development Dispute in the Grand Canyon
Imagine riding a tramway from the rim of the Grand Canyon all the way down to the canyon floor at the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers along the East Rim. Once your gondola docked, a 1,400-foot “riverwalk” would guide you to the Confluence Restaurant or to an amphitheater in the other direction. […]
The Solar Trailer That Could: Energy Innovation Inside Navajo Nation
It’s early afternoon and Brett Isaac, a barrel-chested 27-year-old whose soft-spokenness gives the impression of a gentle giant, is explaining the purpose of the solar trailer hitched to the back of his truck. “One thing we never think about is that each of us produces energy,” Isaac, renewable energy Project Manager for the Shonto Community […]
The Secret Life of Tree Rings: What They Can Teach Us About Drought, Climate And Fire
I meet Tom Swetnam, Director of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona in Tucson, on a Sunday morning because he’s leaving for Siberia in a few days and is otherwise totally booked. As part of the paleofire team that will be traveling to the “Alaska of Siberia, if you will” to […]
