Undergraduate Participants: We aim to make CUWiP accessible to everyone. For undergraduate students, all meals, travel to/from the airport, lodging, and accommodations during the conference are organized and the costs are met by CUWiP. You indicate your length of staying in the registration form. Travel to the conference is usually paid for by your home department. The point of contact for lodging, meals, and transportation is Cathi Duncan (email: cduncanf@arizona.edu, cell: 520-909-1346). Prior to your arrival you will be sent a detailed email with all the information you will need when you arrive. Emergency point of contact during the three days conference period are Vasileios Paschalidis (email: vpaschal@arizona.edu, cell: 520-621-9643) and Cathi Duncan (email: cduncanf@arizona.edu, cell: 520-909-1346)

Travel fund: In cases where your own department, or other sources, can not cover the cost, there are funds available to support travel to CUWiP so no one has to miss out on CUWiP for financial reasons. In this case, please email cuwip@arizona.edu before December 15th to request travel support from UArizona. Please email us your itinerary and estimated costs for the transportation. We will review the proposals and send you an email to confirm that your request will be supported, or to suggest changes to make the proposed transportation mechanism more suitable. Without that email confirming our acceptance of your plans, we will not be able to reimburse the incurred costs.

When you make your purchase, if the final price is significantly different from the estimated cost you submitted, or if the total is above $300, you will need to email us, prior to purchasing the tickets to get authorization. Significant costs which are not pre-approved may not be reimbursed.

Travel costs will typically be reimbursed after the conference. In order to process your reimbursement after the conference, we will need several things from you:

• A letter from your department addressed to University of Arizona, stating they cannot pay for your travel (or can only cover your travel partially, whichever applies).
• If you are not US citizen or green card holder, please bring your I-94, Visa and passport with you to the conference and find us in the conference check-in desk.
• After we approve your travel reimburse, we will send you a W-9 form (with instructions) to fill out and collect your receipts (airline reservations, uber/taxi receipt needs to show your first name and last name, rental car paperwork, etc. If you are driving with your own car, you need to provide the beginning and ending odometer readings and a map of the route. If overnight lodging is needed, state per diem rates will be applied.). It might take about a month to process the reimburse after the conference ends.

Other Participants: For other participants (speakers, or panelists), all meals and local transportation between airport and conference site will be covered by CUWiP. Please click here for lodging information.

Airfare

Participants flying into Tucson will be traveling to Tucson International Airport (TUS). Participants will be picked up at the airport on Friday, January 19, 2024 and transported to the University of Arizona’s Biosphere 2 where the conference will be taking place. Please note this location is approximately 20 miles north of Tucson and a 1.5-hour drive. If possible, please arrange your flights to arrive in Tucson by 14:00 MST on January 19. The shuttle will leave TUS at 12:00, 14:30, and 17:00 MST. For those of you who arrive outside the shuttle pick up time window, please contact us at cuwip@arizona.edu before January 5 (Friday) so that we can arrange a private shuttle/van to transport you from TUS to Biosphere 2.

Upon registration, you will be sent a form to provide your arrival and departure information, along with the airline and flight number. Prior to your arrival you will receive an email with the pickup location at the airport and numbers to call if you need assistance.

On Sunday, January 21, 2024, participants will be picked up at Biosphere 2 at 12:30 MST and transported to the airport for your departure flights. Please arrange your departure flight no earlier than 16:00 MST to allow local transportation/airport check in time. For those who signed up for the campus tour, you will be picked up at Biosphere 2 at 12:30 MST and transported to UA campus. The shuttle from the campus to the airport will pick you up at 17:30 MST at campus location. Please arrange your departure flight no earlier than 19:30 MST to allow local transportation/airport check in time.

Driving to Tucson

For participants who choose to drive, please set your GPS destination as “University of Arizona Biosphere 2, 32540 S. Biosphere Road, Oracle, AZ 85623”. Please find a map and more information here. Parking is free at the site, once you arrive, please follow signs for parking.

Please let us know at cuwip@arizona.edu if you need additional information.

Rooms

A double occupancy room (with individual beds) will be reserved in your name for Friday, January 19 and Saturday, January 20, 2024. You will be assigned a roommate. If you know someone who is attending the conference and would like to room together, please make sure you indicate so in your APS registration form.
Single occupancy rooms are limited and the participants will be responsible for the extra cost of $50/night for single occupancy. Payment of $100 ($50 x 2 nights) is due and payable via credit card upon arrival at Biosphere. Please contact cuwip@arizona.edu and we will work to make accommodations if possible.
Upon arrival at Biosphere 2 you will check in to your room and get settled.

For other participants (mentors accompanying students, speakers, or panelists), please submit our local CUWiP cite registration form here to registration tab, and indicate your lodging preference in the registration form. We will try to accommodate you at the Biosphere2 area, where the rate is $50/night for double occupancy and $100/night for single occupancy. Payment is due and payable via credit card upon arrival. Student participants have priority when it comes to lodging at the Biosphere2 cite, where space is limited. If we are unable to accommodate you at Biosphere2, we will seek other lodging options for other participants

Meals

During the registration process you will be asked to provide us any dietary restrictions. We will do our best to accommodate as much as possible.

In January, the average high-temperature is still enjoyable 62°F (16.5°C), and the average low-temperature is 43°F (6°C). Note that sometime in the early morning or later night, the temperature could drop below 32°F (0°C). Bring a winter jacket with you and dress layered. The temperature variation between day and night could be large.

Since Biosphere 2 is in a relatively remote location, the cell phone coverage is intermittent on site, which also varies for different cell phone networks.

For students whose institutions are part of eduroam, follow your instutions instructions for joining eduroam to connect. A guest network (UA Guest) is also available, but is unsecured. For UArizona participants, the UA WiFi network will also be available.

Self-guided Tour of Biosphere2

Tours of the Biosphere 2 habitat take place from 9:00 to 15:30 and will be available for participants during the conference period, in particular, on Friday with extended visitor hours till 17:30. Do not purchase tour tickets from the Biosphere 2 website. Once you arrive, you can go to the Biosphere 2 front admissions desk where you will be helped downloading the app and giving further instructions.

The Biosphere 2 Experience is an self-guided App based tour. The Biosphere 2 App should be downloaded from here prior to to the tour and contains pre-visit material and all on-site tour content. The Biosphere 2 Experience tour will take approximately 1:15 to complete and is about 1 mile in length. The tour will take you through indoor and outdoor locations and you will experience outdoor weather conditions. Masks are strongly encouraged especially in indoor settings.

Star Gazing Night

Saturday, January 20, 20:30 - 21:30

UArizona Campus Tour

Sunday, January 21, 14:30 - 16:30, UA Campus
Instructions on sign-up will come in a separate email.