Ecotourism with Hand Lenses and Astrotourism with Telescopes

Sixth chapter of Ricardo Rozzi et al.’s virtual exhibition, From Hand Lenses to Telescopes: Exploring the Microcosm and Macrocosm in Chile’s Biocultural Laboratories.

From Hand Lenses to Telescopes: Exploring the Microcosm and Macrocosm in Chile’s Biocultural Laboratories

Chile is a land drawn with the rhythm of nature itself. It is a natural laboratory that invites us to look up into the macrocosm and down into the microcosm. At both extremes of this long and narrow country, science activities have a major global impact. Today, over 50 percent of the world’s astronomical observations use the telescopes of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and other institutions installed in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. Complementarily, at its southern end Chile established the Cape Horn International Center for Global Change Studies and Biocultural Conservation (CHIC) to investigate the microcosms, from the largest organism, planet Earth, to the smallest ones. CHIC explores diverse forms of knowledge and values to understand and protect the biosphere in the context of global socio-environmental change. This virtual exhibition enhances the integration of the sciences, arts, and humanities through a novel partnership with the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, inviting visitors to be enchanted across the multiple scales of the cosmos.

About the Exhibition

About the author

Garcia Corrales, Miguel

Cape Horn International Center for Global Change Studies and Biocultural Conservation, Chile

Miguel Garcia Corrales is a professional and academic with more than 20 years of experience in the development of studies and projects related to landscape, heritage, environmental evaluation of projects, and sustainable tourism, with a focus on Latin America. His research and projects have focused on the study of the natural and cultural landscape as fundamental assets for the endogenous development of sustainable tourism. For 10 years he has been an associate professor at the School of Architecture and Landscape, Central University of Chile, project director at the Institute of Tourist Heritage, Central University of Chile, and since 2023 he has been responsible for the tourism area of the Cape Horn International Center (Basal-ANID) led by the University of Magallanes.

Tauro, Alejandra

Cape Horn International Center for Global Change Studies and Biocultural Conservation, Chile

Alejandra Tauro is an Argentinean biologist who works at El Colegio de Puebla, at the National Science and Technology Council, Mexico, and at the Cape Horn International Center (CHIC), Chile. She graduated as a biologist and professor of biology at the National University of Córdoba, Argentina. She obtained a master’s degree and a doctorate in sciences from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and a master’s degree in sustainable development from the University of Lanús / FLACAM-CEPA, Argentina. Her research focuses on ecology and conservation biology, incorporating a biocultural perspective and inter- and transdisciplinary methodologies to address the heterogeneity of links between human well-being and nature. Tauro has worked at the interface between academia and civil society organizations, contributing to biocultural conservation practices that foster community and inter-actor collaboration.