Getting Started | Marine Biological Laboratory

Start-Up

Start-up checklist

See below.

Check-in/keys

Please check in at the front desk on the first floor of Swope. The Housing Office is staffed from 7 AM to 9 PM, Monday-Saturday, and 9 AM to 7 PM on Sunday. If you arrive after office hours and find the doors locked, please use the blue emergency phone at the front door of Swope to call Campus Security for assistance at 508-289-7217 (or extension 7217 from any house phone).

If you are staying in MBL Housing, you will need to check in at the front desk of Swope for your room/cottage key and to get your MBL card. If your arrival is delayed, please call the Housing Office at 508-289-7213 or email housing@mbl.edu. Failure to inform Housing of an arrival delay may be subject to a cancellation fee. Cottages (at Devil’s Lane and Memorial Circle) are located approximately one mile away from the MBL main campus and you will require transportation to get there. A shuttle schedule is available here or you can choose to walk along the footpath to the right of the entrance of the Devil’s Lane parking lot that connects directly to the Shining Sea Bikeway. For more information about housing, click here.

If you are not staying in MBL housing, you will still need to check in at the front desk of Swope to get your MBL card and keys to your lab if you have been assigned to Lillie or MRC. If your lab assignment is in Rowe, your MBL card, when swiped through the card reader, will let you into the building and into your lab. If for some reason it does not, please first check to make sure you are using your most current MBL card and then contact research@mbl.edu or 508-289-7173 (x7173). If you arrive after office hours and find the doors locked or, if when on campus, you are locked out of your space, please use the blue emergency phone at the front door of Swope to call Campus Security for assistance at 508-289-7217 (x7217).

MBL card

MBL cards, which serve as your photo ID while on campus and which allow access into the buildings, are available at the front desk of Swope Center. MBL cards are programmed to begin on your registration start date and end on your departure date and can be picked up between 7 AM to 9 PM, Monday-Saturday, and 9 AM to 7 PM on Sunday. Please be sure to bring a driver’s license or a photo-ID when picking up your MBL card.

Parking permit

You need an MBL card in order to apply for your parking permit. Application forms are available here. Permits can be picked up at the front desk of Swope. There are two types of MBL parking permits for Whitman Center Scientists: GREEN For Whitman Scientists not staying in MBL cottages, which allows parking on campus (Lillie, Loeb, Swope, Broderick, and Bar Neck lots) any time if space available and RED for Whitman Scientists staying in MBL cottages and all others affiliated with the Whitman Center, which allows parking at the individual cottages or at the Devil’s Lane off-campus parking lot. Those with RED parking permits do have the option of parking in campus lots from 5 PM–7 AM, Monday-Friday, and on weekends and holidays. Additional information about parking can be found here.

Shipping & Receiving

All visiting personnel who expect to receive packages/mail must register in the Mail Room (Lillie 8D) to ensure delivery. For more information on shipping click here or email shipping@mbl.edu.

Campus map

For a colored map of the MBL campus, click here.

Start Up Checklist

ADMINISTRATIVE

Check-in at the front desk on the first floor of Swope to pick up your MBL card, parking sticker, and housing/lab keys if applicable.
Connect to the MBL internet (wireless access at MBL-Guest, see signs on campus for password)
Connect to the MBL Intranet - must be on campus or on vpn to access - (username: first initial, last initial, 5-digit number on MBL card, e.g., cd12345; password: same as user name until user resets).
Sign up for Labshare at (to request and/or share chemicals, dry ice, equipment, etc.). This link also gives you the opportunity to unsubscribe at the end of your stay.

ANIMALS

For use of marine organisms, contact Marine Resources Center at 508-289-7477. For use of non-marine animals, contact Animal Care Facility at 508-289-7288.

CHEMICAL INVENTORY

All laboratories need a chemical inventory. Contact Safety at safety@mbl.edu or 508-289-7424 if you do not already have one.
Fill out the emergency contact card on the back of the door to your lab with your phone numbers.

EQUIPMENT

Pick up any equipment you have rented from Laboratory Operations in Lillie 8C (508-289-7444).
Laboratory supplies and chemicals are available from the Stockroom in Lillie 2; training is required for access (see below).
General-use equipment is available in Rowe 218 & 318 and Lillie 218. Tissue culture rooms are located in Rowe 317 or Lillie 224; training is required for access (see below).
Microscopes are available for general use from the Central Microscopy Facility.

SHIPPING & RECEIVING

Packages will be delivered to your laboratory (address to name, lab number, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543-1015). Otherwise, pick them up from Shipping & Receiving in Lillie 12. For more information on shipping, please click here.
Mail (addressed as above) will be delivered to the Mail Room in Lillie 8D. Please register in the Mail Room upon arrival.

STORAGE

If you do not find your previously stored items in your laboratory upon arrival, email boxes@mbl.edu or 508-289-7326.
If you have brought items that need to be stored in -80 freezers, they are located in Rowe 318 and Lillie 218. MBL has two cold rooms available for general use, one in Rowe 315 and one in Lillie 14. All stored items must be labeled and your name added to the sign-up sheet on the door.

TRAINING

Autoclave: Safety at safety@mbl.edu or 508-289-7424.
Tissue culture: Louie Kerr at lkerr@mbl.edu or 508-289-7273.
Stockroom: Stockroom at stockroom@mbl.edu or 508-289-7449.
Chemical Hygiene Plan (new in 2017, mandatory for anyone new to the MBL): Safety at safety@mbl.edu or 508-289-7424.
Radioactive material or lasers: Safety at safety@mbl.edu or 508-289-7645.

WASTE

Removal of purged chemicals and hazardous waste: Safety at safety@mbl.edu or 508-289-7424 (additional empty containers, plastic bags, and hazardous waste labels available from Safety).
Removal of sharps containers and glass box disposal: Safety at safety@mbl.edu or 508-289-7424.
Proper disposal of all animals (locally collected marine animals, terrestrial, non-native marine, or treated): Safety at safety@mbl.edu or 508-289-7424.
Autoclave all biological waste in autoclave bags and dispose of in dumpster. Be sure all bags are removed and disposed from autoclaves.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, email us at research@mbl.edu, or call 508-289-7173.

Connectivity

Internet

Wireless network access is available to everyone in the MBL Community while on campus. The MBL offers multiple available wireless networks to address the varying connection requirements for all members of the MBL Community. Information about access to any of the following networks can be obtained from the IT office at helpdesk@mbl.edu, helpdesk.mbl.edu, or call 508-289-7654.

MBL-GUEST: MBL offers wireless guest Internet access on the “MBL-GUEST” network in all buildings on the main campus. Refer to signs posted on campus for the password or contact the IT office.
MBL-REGISTER: For access to the MBL private network, contact the IT office or refer to information at the IT website on MBL’s Intranet.
eduroam: Provides access to the “eduroam” secure wireless network and is available to users whose home institution is also an “eduroam” Identity Provider such as UChicago.

Ethernet data jacks with direct access to the MBL network are available to all dormitories and apartments. Several computers, one printer, and six phone jacks (for use with laptops with modems) are available on the first floor of the Swope Center. Additional computers, as well as photocopiers, can be found in the Library on the second floor of Lillie.

Intranet

You will find up-to-date MBL information and frequently used internal documents on the Intranet. In order to log on, you will either need to be on campus or connected to the VPN. You will need your MBL card, which you will receive on check in at the front desk of Swope Center. Once you have your card, you can access the Intranet at http://intranet.mbl.edu (access will coincide with the start and end dates on your MBL card). Your username will be your first initial, last initial, and your MBL card number which can be found under the barcode on your physical MBL card (e.g., cd12345). Your initial password is the same as your username, however, you can change that password by going to http://password.mbl.edu and setting up a new password of your own. Once you have a new password, we recommend you visit http://mymblcard.mbl.edu and review your emergency contact information.

Events and Activities

MBL Activities/MBL Calendar
Information about MBL summer activities (summer courses schedule, evening seminars, Friday Evening Lectures (a 125-year tradition), brown-bag lunches by Whitman Center Research Awardees, etc.) can be found on the MBL calendar. Once you arrive on campus and have access to MBL’s Intranet (www.intranet.mbl.edu), you can submit an event right from the intranet calendar (see “submit course event” link on left hand side of page). It will come to the Communications Office for approval. You can designate on the form if it is a public event or internal only. Once it’s on the calendar, it will feed to the intranet calendar, public facing site events calendar, and digital signage. This is the preferred way for the MBL to receive items for the calendar.

MBL Course Events
MBL currently offers advanced, graduate-level courses in Embryology, Physiology, Neurobiology, Neural Systems and Behavior, Microbial Diversity, Frontiers in Reproduction, and Biology of Parasitism for six to eight weeks each summer. More specialized special topics courses (one to four weeks in duration) are also offered during the spring, summer, and fall. Course lectures are open to EVERYONE in the MBL community, and Whitman Center Scientists and Staff are encouraged to attend these and to interact with course faculty and students. For course schedules, visit the Education page. For information on evening lectures and seminars sponsored by courses, see the MBL Calendar.

“Town Hall” meetings
Whitman Scientists are invited annually to attend Town Hall Meetings to discuss Whitman Center programs, issues, and future plans. Meetings are followed by a social event and will be announced at the beginning of summer by email.

Children’s programs
Information about MBL children’s programs is available here.

Family activities
Children’s School of Science offers 3- and 6-week hands-on sciences courses for children ages 7-16. . Falmouth Academy Summer Camp, located ~5 miles from the MBL campus and accessible by bike path, provides week-long children’s athletic and creative summer programs.