Regulating the rain, timing the tides – Stephanie Van Riet, MFA Sculpture ‘26
On a 114F / 45C day in the Sonoran Desert, I am writing from an ocean climate, overlooking a developing coral reef. Like the other Biosphere 2 biomes, the ocean biome is a site of active research, where scientists are exploring the effect of water temperature on coral resilience. To do this, the one million gallon “ocean” tank is heated up incrementally, during which scientists monitor previously stressed corals vs. corals from less stressed environments.
As I observe the biologists don scuba gear and document the marine ecosystem, I have also been collecting my own data. Each day over the course of my fellowship, I have been tasked with recording PH measurements of water tanks holding composite cement blocks of varying material configurations. These blocks were created by civil engineer Dr. Hee-Jeong Kim at University of Arizona. As the PH levels rise, I am witnessing how the introduction of new material has an impact on water chemistry, and on a larger scale, in our environment. Having experimented with different biocomposites in my sculptural work, finding substitutions for concrete through mixtures of sodium alginate, oyster shell and additional aggregates, it is fascinating to record the impact of more sustainable building materials.
The Biosphere 2 facility allows researchers to undergo experiments at a life scale while maintaining more control than would be possible in nature. At any moment, researchers have the ability to induce droughts, or raise the temperature of the water. The tides and rainfall exist on timers, leaving only one natural timer from the outside world – sunlight. By scaling down Earth’s ecosystems, individual actions become more visible within larger biological cycles. Spending two months immersed in these interconnected biomes, I became increasingly aware of my own breath as an intimate part of the system.
All photos by Stephanie Van Riet