Happy 2009 everyone. Feels good to have a clean slate and TechBurgher is feeling quite positive about the New Year. Looks like The Carnegie Museum of Natural History is starting off the year on a positive foot. It received a load of surplus equipment from UPMC. Here are the details:
A partnership between the two institutions has yielded a donation of surplus laboratory equipment from Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC to the Museum of Natural History.
Children’s Hospital is currently moving from the Oakland neighborhood to its new campus in Lawrenceville. As part of the move, a stockpile of equipment was evaluated as having lasting value but was no longer being used by the hospital, and was consequently transferred to the museum.
“This partnership is the ultimate in recycling. It is a smart business move when nonprofits pool resources and re-use equipment,” said Dr. Samuel Taylor, Director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. “If the museum had to buy this equipment, it would have taken months of fundraising.”
This project was spearheaded by Richard Moriarty, President of Carnegie Discoverers ––a special interest group within the Carnegie Museum of Natural History–– and Dr. Edward V. Prochownik, a member of Carnegie Discoverers Executive Committee, the Paul C. Gaffney Professor of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and director of oncology research at Children’s Hospital.
The surplus equipment will be used in the ThermoFisher Scientific Molecular Lab that is located on the museum’s third floor. The lab allows museum scientists to extract and analyze DNA from plant, animal, and fossil specimens. Comparing the DNA of different species is an important tool for investigating evolution and genetic diversity in animal and plant life. All Carnegie scientists have access to this high-tech facility, as do high-school students, undergraduates, and graduate students who apply for access.
The equipment included:
Techne Hybridization Oven; Stratagene Feathervolt 3000 unit; GE 1.3HP Vacuum pump; Power source VWR 3000; Fisher econotemp oven; Hoefer SE 260 mini-vertical gel; IKA ms 450 swirler; LKB 2112 redirac fraction collector; Copy stand base; 8 graduated cylinders.
