BioBAT Cuts Ribbon on New Lab Space
By Office of the President | Nov 8, 2022
The Interstate Environmental Commission (IEC) recently cut the ribbon for its new space at BioBAT in the Brooklyn Army Terminal.
Adjacent to New York Harbor on the Brooklyn waterfront, the new space will facilitate the Interstate Environmental Commission’s (IEC) water quality monitoring programs, including its recently-established New York-New Jersey Harbor Monitoring network.
The newly built 2,800 square-foot space will allow IEC to expand and advance its laboratory capabilities, technology, and analytical parameters and house all of its operational activities, including its environmental laboratory that analyzes water samples collected throughout the tri-state area to assess the ecological and recreational quality of the region’s waterbodies.
The larger laboratory space also allowed the procurement of equipment to expand and modernize nutrient analyses, which now includes the ability to analyze parameters such as carbon, which is essential to assessing coastal acidification impacts due to climate change. Additionally, it extends both the Commission’s administrative and laboratory operations.
The location will increase the accessibility of the IEC laboratory to its member states and regional partners and enable IEC’s monitoring programs to have a broader, more inclusive reach to waterfront communities. The EPA also provided IEC with $175K in funding to procure new equipment, casework, and fume hoods.
I want to acknowledge the following individuals for their support of BioBAT: John Atkin, IEC Chair; Evelyn Powers, IEC Executive Director; Lisa F. Garcia, EPA Region 2 Administrator; Basil Seggos, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner; Shawn M. LaTourette, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner; Katie Dykes, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner; Andrew Kimball, New York City Economic Development Corporation President and CEO; Susan Rosenthal, New York City Economic Development Senior Vice President Life Sciences and Healthcare; Eva Cramer, Ph.D., BioBAT President and Downstate Distinguished Service Professor; Thomas Hall, BioBAT Executive Director, and David Christini, Ph.D., Senior Vice President for Research and Interim Dean of the School of Graduate Studies at Downstate.
In 2020, BioBAT received a $500K capital fund grant from then-Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams to construct state-of-the-art biotechnology research and manufacturing space at BioBAT to accommodate new companies expanding from regional incubators or those planning to move to New York.
Tags: Events