Mondo

Environmental Research Laboratory
2601 E. Airport Drive
626-3322

There's something fishy here, but investigating it can make you feel stuck in a riptide. Because of the one-way traffic restrictions, you have to drive by the Tucson International Airport terminal and begin heading back out in order to reach this facility. The center consists of environmental agriculture research labs, where specialists develop methods of intensive food production, seawater crop irrigation, and heating and cooling the world's hot spots. Visit a talapia fish farm, find out how a cooling tower works, or just relax in the lab's shady, desert-landscaped picnic area. Tours are conducted at 1:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month.