More Than $12.3 Million for Bigelow Lab Secured by Senator Collins in Funding Bill in First Key Step

Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a senior member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, announced that she secured $12,326,000 for Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in the draft Fiscal Year 2023 Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill.  The bill, which was officially released by the full Senate Appropriations Committee today, must still be voted upon by the full Senate and House.

“Bigelow Laboratory is a leader in efforts to study and improve the health of our oceans and the Gulf of Maine, which is vital to preserving the health of the entire global ecosystem.  The research done by Bigelow Lab’s skilled oceanographers and other scientists is of enormous benefit to Maine’s seafood and tourism industries and supports our coastal communities,” said Senator Collins.  “This funding would help expand and enhance Bigelow Lab’s research as well as create new educational opportunities for the region.  As a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, I will continue to champion this funding as the appropriations process moves forward.”

The funding would be used for Bigelow Lab’s Innovation and Education Wing project, which would expand the main laboratory building in East Boothbay to meet increased demand for its transformative science education initiatives and to support ongoing growth in its innovation and commercial work.  The new wing will contain classrooms, artificial intelligence collaboration space, laboratories, as well as new additions to campus, including Bigelow's first teaching labs, a state of the art cryopreservation space for its growing patent repository business, and a 300-person auditorium that will be a resource for the broader community in the region.