The AmeriFlux Network is built on a remarkable idea: connect hundreds of ecosystems and thousands of researchers through shared practices and open data to better understand the exchange of carbon, water, and energy between land and atmosphere. But outside the research world, those instruments often go unnoticed, standing quietly in forests, grasslands, tundras, and wetlands. How do we make a global network of flux towers engaging to a wider audience? How can we use our iconic towers to help people learn about the secret, invisible fluxes that we have taken such care to record and study?
These questions inspired Tower Tango: a card game that transforms AmeriFlux data into a playful, hands-on learning experience.
What is Tower Tango?
Tower Tango is an education and outreach tool that puts real AmeriFlux site data into the format of a card game. Each card describes one flux tower site, including the tower’s year established, years of data, sink strength, tower height, mean temperature, and mean precipitation. The deck is also color coded to represent the wide variety of ecosystem types we study, from evergreen forests and croplands to wetlands and tundra, creating a visually cohesive way to compare diverse landscapes.
Gameplay begins by dividing cards evenly among players. Then, players take turns selecting a category from their card that they think will be the best out of all the cards in that round. Finally, all the players reveal their values in that category. Whichever player’s tower has the highest value wins the round and claims their opponents’ cards. Of course, you could make up new ways to play too!
Behind the competition lies a subtle lesson in ecosystem diversity, climate gradients, and carbon exchange dynamics. Playing for just a few rounds helps you learn what types of ecosystems are hot, cold, or dry, and which ones are most productive. The game also underscores the power of standardized, open-access data that allows sites from Alaska to Argentina to be compared on the same scale, a foundational principle of both AmeriFlux and FLUXNET. Tower Tango celebrates the diversity and interconnectedness of flux research. It highlights not only the data itself but also the places and ecosystems behind each measurement.
Why We Created It
The project was designed collaboratively by Dave Moore, Lindsey Bell, Angie Abarzúa Muñoz, and Aisha Callahan in the Ecosystem Ecology Lab at the University of Arizona, as part of a broader effort to communicate science through creative media.
The goal of Tower Tango is to make complex environmental datasets more accessible. For many, flux towers take the form of numbers on a plot rather than places on a map. By transforming network data into a tactile, social game, Tower Tango helps players understand what makes each site unique while sparking curiosity about ecosystem processes. In short, it’s data you can hold in your hand.
For educators and outreach coordinators, the deck serves as an engaging teaching resource, ideal for classrooms, conferences, and community events. For scientists, it offers a lighthearted way to share stories about field sites, ecosystem responses, and long-term observations.
A Community Favorite at the 2025 AmeriFlux Annual Meeting
The first edition of Tower Tango was distributed at the 2025 AmeriFlux Annual Meeting, where it quickly became a conversation piece. Between sessions, participants could be found challenging colleagues to quick rounds or discovering new sites they hadn’t encountered before. What began as a creative side project evolved into a tool that connected attendees across institutions, generations, and ecosystems.
Plans for Future Decks
Didn’t see your card at AmeriFlux 2025? Don’t worry! The next phase of Tower Tango has already begun! For AGU25, an expansion pack is in the works, where even more Ameriflux sites will be added for gameplay. We are also developing companion decks for 2026, featuring sites from other networks within FLUXNET, our global community of flux researchers.
Why It Matters
By combining scientific accuracy, artistic design, and playful competition, Tower Tango offers a new way to communicate the importance of continuous ecosystem monitoring. It demonstrates that science outreach can be both rigorous and creative, and that games can inspire curiosity about the carbon cycle just as effectively as data plots and papers.
In the end, the project’s success lies in its simplicity: connecting people to science through interaction and fun. After all, when players ask, “Where’s my tower from?” they’ve already taken the first step toward engaging with the global flux community.
Share Your Feedback!
Did your tower win big in Tower Tango? Or maybe you got out-sunk by a grassland? We want to hear all about it! If you picked up a deck at the 2025 AmeriFlux Annual Meeting, tell us how your cards played out. Your feedback helps us keep the game evolving, whether it’s ideas for new rules, card stats, or ways to make future decks even better. Drop your thoughts, strategies, and favorite tower matchups in the Tower Tango Feedback Form.
Feedback form link again:
We will have some extra decks at AGU!