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Volume 12, No. 1, Spring 02 | Return to Table of Contents
Grass Lab Moves to Whitman, but keeps Lillie Connection
When the 2002 Grass Fellows arrive at the Marine Biological Laboratory this May, they won’t be reporting to their home on the third floor of the Lillie Building. Instead, they’ll be the first occupants of newly renovated space across the street in the Whitman building.
Last October, the MBL began reconfiguring 1,400 square feet of laboratory space on Whitman’s third floor. It is one of several renovations currently underway at the laboratory. The area formerly housed a number of summer educational activities, including the Summer Program in Neuroscience, Ethics, & Survival (SPINES) and programs for undergraduates from Williams College funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. These programs are moving to the Loeb Building.
Since 1951, The Grass Foundation has sponsored the Grass Summer Fellowships Program at the MBL. The Fellowships offer young neuroscientists the opportunity to conduct independent research, often for the first time in their careers. The Fellows typically spend 14 weeks in Woods Hole. There have been over 400 Grass Fellows to date, many of whom have gone on to make major contributions to neuroscience.
Richard Cutler, Director of the MBL’s Facilities, Services, and Projects Office and Steven Zottoli, President of The Grass Foundation, have been working together to design a space that will meet the Fellows' research needs and also foster the cooperative and collegial nature of the program. According to Cutler, “The new lab space will be fully modernized and is designed to allow more flexibility for overall use.” Interior walls have been removed and new lights, plumbing, and flooring have been installed. In addition, custom workstations and furniture have been designed to maximize the use of space in the lab.
While the new Grass Lab promises to be a convenient, functional, and modern research area, its design also ensures that the Lab’s historical connection to Lillie will be preserved. According the Cutler, the door to Lillie 317—home to the Grass Lab since the early 1970s—will be displayed in a corridor alcove in the new Whitman space. In 1996, Dr. Daniel Barry, a NASA Astronaut and Grass Fellow from 1985-1987, brought the key to this door into space with him as a tribute to Grass Foundation founders, Albert and Ellen Grass, the Grass Foundation, and the Grass Laboratory. |
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