Synergia Ranch is an ecovillage founded in 1969 by John P. Allen, the inventor of Biosphere 2 and Marie Harding, its present manager. It is located in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, 15 miles south of the city of Santa Fe. [1] Synergia Ranch operates as a private retreat and workshop center for small groups.
In the 1970s, businessman and philanthropist Ed Bass was a regular visitor to the counterculture community, later becoming a director of the Institute of Ecotechnics that Allen and other Synergia Ranch members founded, and financing much of their work. [2] The Theater of All Possibilities (TOAP) network was based out of Synergia Ranch. [1]
In 1984, Bass and Allen launched the Biosphere 2 project (for which Bass provided $150 million in funding until 1991), partially inspired by ideas Allen had advocated at Synergia Ranch, such as Buckminster Fuller's "Spaceship Earth". [2] Several other former members of Synergia Ranch also joined Biosphere 2. [2]
Cimarron is a village in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States, which sits on the eastern slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The population was 1,021 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous municipality in Colfax County.
Las Vegas is a city in and the county seat of San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. Once two separate municipalities, both were named Las Vegas—West Las Vegas and East Las Vegas ; they are separated by the Gallinas River and retain distinct characters and separate, rival school districts.
Agua Fria is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,800 at the 2010 census. Agua Fria Village is a "Traditional Historic Community" (THC) as designated by the Santa Fe Board of County Commissioners in 1995 and subsequent Santa Fe County Ordinance #1996-16, as allowed by State Statute.
Edgewood is a town in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. Through annexations, its town boundaries now extend into Bernalillo and Sandoval counties. It is part of the Albuquerque–Santa Fe–Las Vegas combined statistical area.
Eldorado at Santa Fe, locally known as Eldorado, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,130 at the 2010 census.
La Cienega is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico, metropolitan statistical area. The population was 3,007 at the 2000 census.
Los Cerrillos is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 229 at the 2000 census. Accessible from State Highway 14 or The Turquoise Trail, Cerrillos is on the road from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, closer to Santa Fe. There are several shops and galleries, a post office, and the Cerrillos Hills State Park, which has five miles of hiking trails. The Cerrillos Turquoise Mining Museum contains hundreds of artifacts from the American Old West and the Cerrillos Mining District. It also displays cardboard cutouts of characters from the film Young Guns and information on other movies which have been filmed in and around Cerrillos.
Santa Cruz is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 423 at the 2000 census.
Biosphere 2 is an American Earth system science research facility located in Oracle, Arizona. Its mission is to serve as a center for research, outreach, teaching, and lifelong learning about Earth, its living systems, and its place in the universe. It is a 3.14-acre (1.27-hectare) structure originally built to be an artificial, materially closed ecological system, or vivarium. It remains the largest closed ecological system ever created.
Los Alamos Ranch School was a private ranch school for boys in the northeast corner of Sandoval County, New Mexico, USA, founded in 1917 near San Ildefonso Pueblo. During World War II, the school was bought and converted into the secret nuclear research campus for Project Y. The surrounding location has developed into the town of Los Alamos.
John O’Hea Crosby was an American musician, conductor and arts administrator. He was the founding general director of The Santa Fe Opera, a company he oversaw for 43 years.
John Polk Allen is a systems ecologist, engineer, metallurgist, adventurer, and writer. Allen is a proponent of the science of biospherics and a pioneer in sustainable co-evolutionary development. He is the founder of Synergia Ranch, and is best known as the inventor and director of research of Biosphere 2, the world's largest vivarium and research facility to study global ecology. Biosphere 2 set multiple records in closed ecological systems work, including degree of sealing tightness, 100% waste and water recycle, and duration of human residence within a closed system. He is also involved with forestry and reforestation in Puerto Rico where he owns a 1000 acre Mahogany tree farm at Patillas.
Santa Fe Preparatory School is a private school located in Santa Fe, New Mexico The school provides grades 7-12 with an enrollment of 340 students. It was founded in February 1961.
Edward Perry "Ed" Bass is an American businessman, financier, philanthropist and environmentalist who lives in Fort Worth, Texas. He financed the Biosphere 2 project, an artificial closed ecological system, which was built between 1987 and 1991. He is the chairman of Fine Line, an investment and venture-capital management firm in Fort Worth, and Chairman of the board of directors of the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, a philanthropic organization. He was listed as #239 on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans in 2012, with an estimated net worth of $2 billion.
Bonanza City is a ghost town, located 13 miles (21 km) southwest of Santa Fe in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. The town was founded in 1880 as a mining town, following the discovery of gold and silver in the nearby Cerrillos Hills. It was abandoned sometime in the early 1900s. Later in the 20th century, The Bonanza Creek Movie Ranch, which contains a movie set depicting a late 19th century mining town, was built near the ruins of Bonanza City.
Mark Nelson is an American ecologist and author based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His research focuses on closed ecological system research, ecological engineering, restoration of damaged ecosystems, and wastewater recycling. The founding director of the Institute of Ecotechnics in 1973, Nelson was one of the eight original crew members of Biosphere 2 in 1991 and served as the Director of Earth and Space Applications for the project until 1994.
Kathelin Gray is an American director, writer and curator working across many forms. She has co-founded numerous projects which integrate ecology, science and culture. She writes and speaks on the intersection of art and the sciences.
Theater of All Possibilities (TOAP), was an artistic practice network and touring theater founded in 1967 by John Allen, Kathelin Gray and Marie Harding in San Francisco, California, United States. The group worked with collaborators from the sciences, technology, history, and ecology, with the Institute of Ecotechnics as a partner organization on many projects.
The Institute of Ecotechnics is an educational, training and research charity with a special interest in ecotechnology, the environment, conservation, and heritage. With its U.K. headquarters in London, England and its U.S. affiliate in Santa Fe, NM, the institute was founded to "develop and practice the discipline of ecotechnics: the ecology of technics, and the technics of ecology."
Aleman is a locale, a formerly populated place in Sierra County, New Mexico, United States. It lies at an elevation of 4,669 feet.
Coordinates: 35°29′27.3″N106°5′45.6″W / 35.490917°N 106.096000°W