Welcome to the online course, biosphere 2 science for the future of our planet. In this mock, we have compiled the important research being done at Biosphere 2 and across the University of Arizona, to help us better understand how our planet earth works, Biosphere 1. My name is Kevin Bonine, and I'm a scientist at the University of Arizona, and the director of education and outreach at Biosphere 2. I will be your guide through this course, helping connect the modules that tell the story of our large scale controlled research. Biosphere 2 was built more than 25 years ago, in a bold and audacious attempt to recreate and better understand, the complexities of earth's systems. It is the world's largest controlled research tool, in Earth's system science. It also happens to be open to the 100,000 public visitors that come each year, including about 10,000 school children, teachers and experts across a variety of professional and academic fields. Our guiding principle for connecting with the public, is that we are an experimental science facility, exploring earth systems that affect your life. Biosphere 2 is a unique research instrument and the University of Arizona scientists that do work at or related to, the questions being addressed under the glass, are cutting edge leaders in their fields. When trying to understand the complexities of our planet, many scientific disciplines converge to collectively explain observations in nature or come up with hypotheses about our future. We have organized the Biosphere 2 course into nine modules. The first is an overview Biosphere 2, followed by a focus on climate, then water, desert ecology, rain forest, marine systems, soil science, food production and lastly, the potential for human space colonization. Each of these nine modules will provide insights into how science is done, how new findings lead to more and better questions which leads to even more science, curiosity, creativity and perseverance, will continue to help us better understand our planet and perhaps, help us assess potential solutions for some of the global changes humans have initiated. This course of nine modules, also includes a quiz for each section, collaborative online discussion questions, supplemental readings and videos. As well as, the opportunity for you to collect and analyze your own data as part of a global citizen science project to gather more and better information about Biosphere 1. Our hope is that by doing a bit of science outside yourself, you will better connect with the material in this mock, understand how scientists compile information and have a greater appreciation for Earth's systems and their ability to support your quality of life. If you complete the course, earning the Coursera certificate, we will provide you a complimentary individual membership to Biosphere 2, valid for one year. Enjoy your virtual introduction to our work and we hope to meet you in person one day soon, as well.