The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) team recently joined representatives from the Pipetting Pigeon and MassBioEd for a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the launch of the Lab Materials Rehoming Initiative, a collaboration that brings surplus laboratory materials and supplies from life sciences companies into classrooms across the Commonwealth.
Through the Lab Materials Rehoming Initiative, the MLSC provides dedicated storage space within its office building for donated materials, while the Pipetting Pigeon and MassBioEd coordinate with companies and schools to collect, match, and distribute supplies. The new storage space allows more materials to be diverted from landfills while enabling volunteers to more efficiently coordinate pickups and distribution. The partnership also expands the MLSC’s reach to schools that may not have been eligible for or able to secure grant funding. Since 2011, the MLSC has invested more than $200 million in over 480 public schools and 60 colleges across Massachusetts to expand access to life sciences education and training. This new initiative builds on those investments, providing additional resources to schools while offering companies an opportunity to give back to their communities and reduce waste.
“This initiative grew out of our longstanding partnership with MassBioEd and a shared commitment to supporting under-resourced schools with much-needed lab supplies,” said Ryan Mudawar, MLSC Executive Vice President of Educational Partnerships and Workforce Investments. “When MassBioEd approached us about the need for additional storage space, we saw an opportunity to think bigger and connect their efforts with the work the Pipetting Pigeon was already leading. We are proud to make this space available to support the tireless efforts of all the volunteers involved, and grateful for the partnership which allows us to reach even more students and educators.”
The Pipetting Pigeon originated in 2024 with the goal of building that next generation of scientists and since then has delivered lab supplies to over 200 locations, all free of charge to the teachers. As one high school teacher tearfully exclaimed, “This is more material than I have seen in the sum of my twenty years of teaching”. The volunteer operation has diverted the equivalent of over 26 dumpsters worth of clean unused lab supplies.
Based on the Pipetting Pigeon’s previous operations, the MLSC estimates the initiative has the potential to rehome approximately $1 million in lab materials each year and reach as many as 5,000 Massachusetts students annually. Items collected and distributed by the Pipetting Pigeon volunteers typically include lab coats, conical tubes, tissue culture flasks, tube racks, microfuges, vortex mixers, micropipette tips, gloves, media bottles, petri dishes, and graduated cylinders, among other laboratory supplies.
Companies interested in donating materials or schools interested in receiving supplies can learn more by contacting April Blodgett at april.blodgett@comcast.net.
