About This Project

We're changing community science through the power of sharing! Our project constructs a network of tiny, accessible community lab spaces. Each Lil Lab is full of donated resources for everyone to borrow, use, and share, tailored to each neighborhood's needs. Some have seeds of culturally significant plants; others, aromatic spices, colorful art supplies, essential bike repair tools, or fermentation starters. All just a walk or roll away, ready to spark curiosity, creativity, and connection.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

How do we ensure that everyone sees themselves as a biologist? We must see science spaces in our kitchens, gardens, and sidewalks! We propose building neighborhood-based science swaps, similar to Little Free Libraries: Lil Labs. Imagine walking along your street and seeing a beautiful, recycled cabinet filled with frugal science tools, sourdough starters, and local seeds. This is a Lil Lab! An extension of community biology, Lil Labs are spaces to share science found in our everyday lives, enabling learning and creative expression in collaboration with living systems and with our neighbors. The Lil Lab Network will expand biology knowledge and tools throughout the country and the world by building labs in our own backyards.

What is the significance of this project?

Our Lil Lab movement believes science is part of every culture–both past and future. From children doing their first experiments to elders sharing cultural knowledge, Lil Labs celebrate the curiosity and expertise in our communities. They are hubs for hobby projects, artistic exploration, and culinary adventure. They hold supplies, facilitate workshops, enable citizen science, and support informal mentorship. Lil Labs are where art meets science, culture informs biological discovery, and true scientific dialogue happens.

Lil Labs don't just democratize access to science and biology; they fundamentally rethink who is a scientist and what science means to society. In doing so, they are an inclusive, collaborative, and community-driven approach to science that recognizes and values everyone.

What are the goals of the project?

This project will jumpstart the Lil Lab Network by providing seed grants to build 10 Lil Labs. By choosing seed grantees from diverse communities, we can design a myriad of Lil Labs and build a Lil Lab “Green”print for scaling to a global movement. Our Lil Lab Network vision is to have distributed community science hubs in every neighborhood. Through the Lil Lab Network, we aim to foster a culture of curiosity, innovation, and collaboration that empowers communities to learn with/from biology.

With initial support from experiment.com, we will create an open-source “green”print for anyone to build Lil Labs, as well as demonstrate safety and feasibility of Lil Labs. We hope this will allow us to grow the movement and seek future funding to become a stand-alone non-profit.