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Photo / Fred Field
The Harold Alfond Center for Ocean Education and Innovation at Bigelow Lab’s East Boothbay campus
Bigelow Laboratory opened a $31 million, 25,000-square-foot addition this year that increases the research center’s footprint by 40%, providing significant and essential space to accommodate a growing staff and projects.
Deborah Bronk, the lab’s president and CEO, called the Harold Alfond Center for Ocean Education and Innovation “a launchpad for innovation and a new home for learning.”
The center includes the latest laboratory facilities, dedicated teaching labs and classrooms and a 300-seat forum that will become a hub for community outreach and scientific collaboration.
At the unveiling of the new research center earlier this year, attendees had the opportunity to meet Henry and Grampus, two autonomous underwater gliders used to study the Gulf of Maine, and to explore the lab’s collection — one of the world’s largest and most diverse — of marine phytoplankton.
Talks included a look at what scientists are learning from environmental DNA, how they’re addressing water quality challenges in the Boothbay region and how they study and manage infectious diseases impacting marine life.
The cutting-edge laboratory facilities will accommodate several new research groups, and newly endowed funds will provide “kickstarter” grants to explore promising, early-stage ideas, according to a news release.
The center is one of the first Build America Buy America Act-compliant construction projects in the nation, fostering domestic economic growth by prioritizing U.S.-made materials.
“Bigelow Laboratory continues to be a catalyst for innovation and scientific excellence, and Consigli is honored to have delivered another state-of-the-art facility on their campus that will help expand their impactful work,” said Dave Thomas, regional director for Consigli Construction Co., which led construction of the addition. “The Harold Alfond Center for Ocean Education and Innovation is more than just a building — it’s a launchpad for bold science that will empower researchers and students to deepen their understanding of our oceans.”
Funding came from the Harold Alfond Foundation, other philanthropic gifts and federal funding. A maintenance endowment, contributed by an anonymous donor, which will permanently support capital repairs and equipment replacement to ensure the long-term viability of the new space.
Earlier this year, Mainebiz honored Bigelow Lab’s Deborah Bronk as a 2025 Business Leader of the Year.
Bronk, who serves as president, CEO and senior research scientist, is an advocate for scientific study — even as federal funding has become harder to come by. Bigelow gets about half of its funding from federal grants.
Bronk’s fascination with microscopic organisms and the ocean guided her career, including three decades of research cruises and field expeditions spanning the poles.
Here are excerpts from a conversation with Bronk originally published in March.
Mainebiz: What’s the lab’s mission?
Deborah Bronk: We study the microscopic organisms that are the foundation of life in the ocean. That’s our foundational research. The other side is our solution-based work, getting products or services into the market to drive change. We also have education programs that train the next generation of scientists.
MB: What attracted you to Bigelow?
DB: Bigelow is tops in microbial oceanography — and I mean globally, not just the States. I was attracted to Bigelow’s business model, which is the most efficient I have seen for doing science. We provide 12 weeks of salary to our scientists each year. That’s it. That means they have to consistently innovate and produce new ideas to get additional funding to support their lab group. When somebody gets a grant, everyone is excited, because grants keep the doors open. It’s a brilliant model that encourages collaboration.
We’re very nimble. We can decide on something and execute that afternoon. We also have a flat governance structure. The empowerment of scientists allows us to jump on opportunities.
MB: Tell us about the expansion.
DB: The building we’re in now is Platinum LEED certified and uber-efficient. But the three wings are purely research, with no teaching labs and only one classroom. The new space has teaching laboratories, two classrooms and innovation space for research with commercial applications. We want to be the ideal place that helps launch and support companies throughout Maine.
The new center also has a forum to host events. Our scientists travel around the country for conferences and workshops. I want to bring those conferences and workshops to Boothbay and to Bigelow. I also would love to get Boothbay high school students here for upper division science classes.
MB: Are federal uncertainties affecting the lab?
DB: Yes. We have $5 million in [National Science Foundation] grants that were recommended for funding in limbo. We’ve lost contracts for fee-for-service activities, from places that are losing funding. That threatens our ability to provide other services — for example, biotoxin testing for the scallop industry. I hoped to hire four to five new scientists, each building their own groups with people who now may not be moving to Boothbay. We’re in good financial shape, but I don’t want to oversell our security. If the science agencies take draconian cuts, that’s an existential threat.
MB: What do you love about this field?
DB: I come to work every day knowing that we’re making the world better. The climate is changing, the ocean is overtaxed, the fisheries are depleted, we’re looking at a scary future. But we can do remarkable things and science is the foundation of that. I know that if we get these projects across the finish line, we can make dramatic changes.
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