For her research project, Kachmarik conducted surveys of different species of plants in the thorn scrub biome, a transition area between the rain forest and desert ecosystems. After cataloging the plants, Kachmarik co-authored a field guide of the different flora indigenous to the thorn scrub region. DeCecchis' research project consisted of measuring the carbon dioxide produced by microbes in the soil of the agricultural biome. DeCecchis said that the Earth Semester gave him a greater respect for the environment. In addition to their research projects, the students' curriculum during the semester includes courses in conservation biology, an earth systems science class, and a seminar on planetary management.
Students also take field trips to study different environmental phenomena.
Last semester, students traveled to the Sea of Cortez in Baja, Mexico, to collect specimens of intertidal organisms exposed in Baja's uncommonly low tides. Gerald Berkowitz, professor and head of the plant science, will represent UConn at a conference in November at Biosphere 2 to discuss course curricula for the Earth Study program. Berkowitz has been affiliated with Biosphere 2 since 1996 as a member of the Research Advisory Board, a committee that proposes research topics for the facility. Berkowitz says the primary research application of Biosphere 2 is to measure the greenhouse effect in different biome ecosystems. The discoveries made today by students and researchers at the Biosphere will eventually engender tomorrow's solutions to global issues like loss of biodiversity and ozone depletion.