ARDMORE, Okla. — Four Noble Research Institute laboratories recently participated in the My Green Lab sustainability certification program. Noble is the first research organization in Oklahoma to participate in the program.
My Green Lab’s certification is the standard for laboratory sustainability best practices in the United States. Designed for individual laboratories, the certification program identifies energy-saving and water-saving measures, opportunities for waste reduction, and ways to minimize the use of hazardous chemicals.
Four Noble laboratories met the criteria to participate as part of Noble’s pilot group. Each laboratory had one year to identify areas for improvement before completing a comprehensive online assessment. They were assessed in the following areas: electricity, lighting, cold storage, fume hoods and ventilation, water, inventory management, recycling waste reduction, hazardous waste, green chemistry, field work, and community.
Based on the assessment results, each laboratory received a certification achievement level: green, platinum, gold, silver or bronze. Noble’s Functional Genomics Laboratory and Microbial Symbiology Laboratory reached the platinum level, the Molecular Plant Nutrition Laboratory reached the gold level, and the Molecular Plant Microbe Laboratory reached the silver level.
As a result of the program, Noble researchers continue to adopt new ways to reduce energy, water usage and waste, and other sustainability practices in the laboratories and surrounding areas. They also work with the other Noble laboratories to incorporate the same practices across campus.
Laboratory managers from the four participating research groups hold their My Green Lab certifications alongside Noble’s stewardship and sustainability program co-coordinators. Front, from left: Sylvia Warner, Ivone Torres-Jerez and Bikram Pant. Back, from left: Myoung-Hwan Chi, Jie Cai and Paula Barbour.
Vidhya Raman, Noble Research Institute postdoctoral fellow in the molecular plant microbe laboratory, examines plant cultures.
Venkatachalam Lakshmanan, Noble Research Institute postdoctoral fellow in the functional genomics laboratory, selects and transfers bacterial colonies into Petri dishes.
