The University of Rochester, a leader in biomedical research, healthcare, and bio-solutions, is taking steps to integrate environmental responsibility in its everyday research practices.
At the heart of this work is the Center for Advanced Research Technologies (CART), along with one of its integral facilities, the Biological Supply Center (BSC). By centralizing resources, minimizing waste, and fostering collaboration, CART’s facilities are reducing the environmental footprint of research while also promoting a collaborative culture that accelerates scientific discovery.
What is the Center for Advanced Research Technologies (CART)?
CART is the University’s central resource for cutting-edge biomedical technologies (e.g., genomics, flow cytometry, microscopy) that enable advanced research across the University. CART supports 3,000+ researchers from 500+ labs in the biomedical and healthcare research sectors.
If researchers’ experimental needs are beyond their lab’s capabilities, they can benefit from using CART’s advanced facilities and state-of-the-art equipment. CART also provides support with experimental design and data interpretation, providing an outlet for ‘team science’— a collaborative approach that leverages the strengths and expertise of research professionals—to thrive. In the last year, 311 research labs utilized CART’s core facilities.
The benefits also extend to environmental sustainability. By lowering the need for individual labs to have resource-intensive instruments, CART helps to minimize the number of instruments that will be difficult to recycle or repurpose in the future.
“CART supports sustainability by helping reduce waste,” says Megan Crawford, Senior Marketing Strategist for CART. “Scientific instruments are large and made of metal and plastic. At some point, they expire and need to be replaced.”
Several of CART’s facilities feature sustainability as a fundamental component. For instance, the Cold Storage Core, a centralized freezer bank on top of the Medical Center, helps prevent excess energy from being directed to multiple freezers across different lab spaces.
The Biological Supply Center (BSC), CART’s internal ordering and distribution center for reagents and consumables, also has a long list of sustainable advantages.
The BSC: Where shipping meets sustainability
When labs order supplies through the BSC, they receive not only negotiated pricing, but help to reduce waste and emissions through the use of consolidated shipping.
For example, consider the common need to order enzymes. By ordering from a single enzyme supplier through the BSC, the research community saves up to 3,640 shipments from that supplier annually. This drastically reduces packaging waste, which for lab supplies often means cardboard boxes, packing materials, Styrofoam, and unrecyclable plastics. Considering that the BSC has approximately 20 vendors from whom they regularly order, consolidated shipments reduce an immense amount of waste. Fewer shipments also mean fewer greenhouse gas emissions from the production of extra packaging materials and the shipping of redundant packages.
Inspired by the grassroots efforts of the University’s Sustainable Labs Initiative (SLI), Inventory Planning Coordinator and My Green Lab Ambassador Michael Hughson has recently piloted several other sustainability initiatives at the BSC:
- Pipette tip box recycling through Polycarbin. Since January, 963 pounds of plastic have been diverted from landfills, resulting in an estimated reduction of 4,748 lb CO2e, 1,419 gallons of water, and 1,502 lb of fossil fuels.
- Optimizing freezer use through participation in the My Green Labs Freezer Challenge. Between the BSC and the Cold Storage Core, the University has made energy savings of 37.35 kWh/day through participation in this challenge.
- Utilizing packaging reuse and recycling programs for items from select suppliers. Collected items include Styrofoam boxes, tube racks, paper wrapping, and plastic film.
- Providing reuse stations for lab supplies, ice packs, dry ice, and name plates.
For the BSC to increase its positive impact on reducing waste and resource use, it relies on the research community to utilize the resources it can provide. This past year, the BSC served 442 different labs, with an average of 250 labs per month utilizing their services.
“It’s a good place where everyone comes together,” remarks Hughson. “We have a lot of regular customers and labs that come to us, but there are also so many labs that don’t know we are here as an option, or do and would rather order on their own.”
Team science and sustainable collaboration
The goal of team science is highly emphasized by both Crawford and Hughson as a core element of CART’s and the BSC’s mission, and it is an important part of research at the University. They emphasize that CART is not just a service provider; it is a catalyst for a more collaborative and sustainable research culture.
Achieving this mission — and the sustainable advantages that accompany it — requires rethinking convenience and breaking established patterns.
“Convenience is a roadblock for sustainability everywhere,” remarks Hughson. “It’s like the Amazon syndrome. Why would I go out to the store when I can order it and have it delivered directly to me? At the BSC, we’re a service that has been here and is able to do that for [researchers], but they might not necessarily know that we’re an option right in house, right next door.”
Looking forward
The University of Rochester is a Tier 1 research university, making groundbreaking discoveries to create a better future. CART and the BSC are essential to the research performed at the University, but many researchers and labs remain unaware of the full range of their services.
“It can be hard to know the resources that are available,” says Crawford, referring to the broad scope and locations of research conducted across the Rochester campuses. With CART’s services located at the Medical Center, the physical separation between its facilities and the River Campus poses an additional challenge. Crawford assures that CART is here for everyone across the entire biological research community.
The future of sustainability in research depends on awareness and a shared commitment to working together. CART and the BSC are committed to these goals and are working to ensure that the University’s scientific progress aligns with its environmental values. Tim Bushnell, Director of CART, maintains this sustainable vision for the future of research at Rochester.
“At its core, the long-term vision for CART is to be a catalyst for discovery,” says Bushnell. “We’re building a research infrastructure that is not only technically excellent but also strategically aligned with the needs of scientists today and tomorrow. That means fostering a shared research environment that maximizes impact while minimizing duplication, both in terms of financial and environmental resources.
Sustainability is woven into this vision. Whether it’s through centralizing and sharing of instrumentation, creating a hub for recycling lab-specific supplies, consolidating shipments and reducing packaging waste, or gaining and promoting Green Lab practices, CART helps reduce the footprint of research while increasing its reach.”
To learn more about CART, visit CART.urmc.edu. Researchers interested in sustainability are encouraged to take the My Green Labs Ambassador Program online training. To get involved with the Sustainable Labs Initiative, reach out to Rachel Lombardo or Azmeer Sharipol.
Written by Kylin Roberts (‘26) and Maryellen Zbrozek (sustainability programs specialist)
