The BioBuilder Learning Lab @ Ginkgo is one year old, and what a great year it has been! Hundreds of people visited and used the lab during the past year for workshops and special events, and students returned to in-person learning! Let’s take a look at what’s been happening.
Let’s do this!
The keys to the new lab were handed over to Dr. Natalie Kuldell, Founder and Executive Director of BioBuilder, in July of 2021. The wonderful 3300 square feet of lab and classrooom space is made available by Ginkgo Bioworks, who pledged to donate more than $1.2M to cover the full cost of rent over the next three years!
The Learning Lab was outfitted thanks to the generosity of many ardent BioBuilder supporters. From furniture to lab equipment and supplies, their assistance has been nothing short of remarkable.
An eye-popping $100K of funding and in kind donations came from
- K2 Scientific provided refrigeration units.
- Carolina Biological Supply gifted lab equipment.
- The Furniture Trust donated furnishings.
- The Richmond Group donated lab benches.
- New England Biolabs provided lab materials and supplies.
- The Massachusetts Life Science Center granted funds for lab-specific furniture and equipment.
Want to take a peek under the hood as we built the lab? Check out the sidebar of our November 2021 blog post!
We built, they came!
Once ready, it was Go Time for events at the Learning Lab. Our small but mighty BioBuilder team
- led 23 student workshops with 439 participants from nine states (MA, NY, CA, TX, MN, KS, IA, FL, CO)
- taught 5 Professional Development workshops for 80 working professionals
- hosted 5 special events attended by 145 people
- ran a High School Apprenticeship Challenge poster session and closing ceremony attended by 58 students and their families
Overall, nearly 800 people visited the Learning Lab over the past 12 months. Not bad for its rookie season!
Here’s a month-by-month breakdown of what’s been happening.
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The next 12 months look just as exciting for BioBuilder and the Learning Lab @ Ginkgo. Stay in touch to see what happens!
Device Dude
On June 2nd, BioBuilder’s own Dr. Natalie Kuldell received a unique award during the Central Square Theater’s annual gala. Each year, the Theater recognizes and honors an individual who demonstrates an artist’s most prized characteristic – Curiosity. This year, Dr. Kuldell was honored with this award in recognition of the curiosity instilled in her work at BioBuilder and in synthetic biology.
In her acceptance speech, Dr. Kuldell beautifully described the importance of curiosity in BioBuilder’s work:
“Our curiosity moves us forward, to explore an unknown character, to find a cure for a disease, to solve what seems like an unsolvable challenge. Curiosity is a powerful motivator for all of it. And that is why it so important to support the arts and to support science. The Central Square Theater sits at this intersection. BioBuilder, my educational nonprofit, sits at this intersection. Arts and Science celebrate and thrive in the humanity of our curiosity, and they drive what is beautifully human forward.”
Dr. Kuldell—indeed, the entire BioBuilder family—are so grateful for this recognition. We are thrilled that curiosity is being encouraged and honored in science and engineering!
