Associate Professor of Performance, Theater, and Dance Annie Kloppenberg (center) is the inaugural director of the Lyons Arts Lab, a new arts incubator that will open in the fall.
Above: Associate Professor of Performance, Theater, and Dance Annie Kloppenberg (center) is the inaugural director of the Lyons Arts Lab, a new arts incubator that will open in the fall.

Colby’s New Labs Address Critical Issues and Initiatives

The College established a suite of labs to build and strengthen partnerships and create student research, internship, and global experiences in the sciences, the environment, the arts, and entrepreneurism. Unique among liberal arts colleges, the labs represent areas where Colby can provide critical and timely leadership around initiatives vital to the College and society at large.

Linde Packman Lab for Biosciences Innovation

The Linde Packman Lab for Biosciences Innovation prepares students to become the next generation of science leaders and innovators by connecting them with opportunities, programs, and mentors and providing funding to ensure transformative bioscience experiences on campus and around the world. Those experiences include College-funded research, internships, and global opportunities in preparation for careers in biotechnology, biomedicine, biochemistry, ocean sciences, genomics, and bioinformatics.

The lab was established in 2018 thanks to a gift from Museum Board of Governors member Karen Linde Packman ’88, P’21 and Trustee Jeff Packman ’88, P’21. The Linde Packman Lab provides support and funding for opportunities that students arrange through their own initiative and those that are curated by DavisConnects, based on its existing partnerships with a large number of science institutions. Their gift also permanently funded the Colby Achievement Program in the Sciences (CAPS) and the Champlin Scholars program, preparing the next generation of innovators in the sciences and establishing a new model for the sciences at a liberal arts institution by providing access to large-scale scientific opportunities.

With lab funding, Colby students have served as research technicians, research assistants, and data collectors to combat and treat a range of diseases. Since its inception, the lab has awarded more than 50 grants for student research and expanded partnerships in Maine and beyond, including with Jackson Laboratory, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, MDI Biological Laboratory, Maine Cancer Genomics Initiative, Maine Dartmouth Family Practice, Center for Discovery and Innovation, and the Montefiore Medical Center. In addition the lab has strengthened internal partnerships with Pulver Science Scholars.

Alexis Wilkerson ’26 participated in the Colby Achievement Program in the Sciences (CAPS), supported by the Linde Packman Lab for Biosciences Innovation.
ABOVE: Alexis Wilkerson ’26 participated in the Colby Achievement Program in the Sciences (CAPS), supported by the Linde Packman Lab for Biosciences Innovation.

Lyons Arts Lab

The newest lab is the Lyons Arts Lab, funded with a $5-million endowed gift from Colby Trustee John Lyons ’85, P’22 and Colby Museum of Art Board of Governors member Susannah Gray P’22. Launching in fall 2023 and to be housed in the soon-to-open Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts, the Lyons Arts Lab will be a collaborative incubator to create groundbreaking, interdisciplinary work.

“Everyone needs a creative outlet to express themselves,” said Lyons, who has made his career in film and TV. “I envision the lab will allow them to experiment, have fun, and breathe and dream.”

“I’m most excited about his vision for this lab as an opportunity to support students to explore and experiment. The lab will be able to give students exciting resources to test ideas early on, which is a rare opportunity not just for students but even for professionals.”
—Annie Kloppenberg, Lyons Arts Lab director discussing the vision of funder John Lyons
Annie Kloppenberg, associate professor of performance, theater, and dance, will direct the lab. It will serve as a creative think tank to support new ideas, concepts, and content developed by Colby students and faculty. It will also provide resources, including funding and mentorship, to test, develop, and refine creative projects for public performance. The lab also will work with faculty across the College and visiting artists to develop new, cross-disciplinary work and will work toward establishing more arts programming in the summer for the Colby community and beyond.
tudents in the Colby Achievement Program in the Sciences, funded by the Linde Packman Lab for Biosciences, participate in a class on Allen Island.
ABOVE: Students in the Colby Achievement Program in the Sciences, funded by the Linde Packman Lab for Biosciences, participate in a class on Allen Island.
Colby’s Island Campus, established in 2022 with the acquisition of Allen and Benner islands in midcoast Maine, creates academic opportunities across all disciplines.
ABOVE: Colby’s Island Campus, established in 2022 with the acquisition of Allen and Benner islands in midcoast Maine, creates academic opportunities across all disciplines.

Buck Lab for Climate and Environment

Directed by Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Gail Carlson, the Buck Lab for Climate and Environment was established with a gift from Trustee Sandy Buck ’78 and Sissy Buck. The lab connects students, faculty, and community partners for collaborations involving environmental scholarship, teaching and learning, civic engagement, and career explorations. Since its inception in 2017, the lab has supported more than 100 student projects from across campus for a range of independent research projects, research with faculty, internships, and community engagement projects.
“It’s not trivial stuff they’re researching. They’re researching real science that is important and needs to be explored.”
—Trustee Sandy Buck ’78
The Buck Lab supports student internships and research projects in the sciences, as well as at the intersection of environmental studies and other fields such as English, philosophy, and the visual arts.

In the 2021-22 academic year, the lab provided grants to 35 Colby students with a range of majors and minors, eight Colby faculty in environmental studies, English, geology and chemistry, and two artist fellows associated with the Lunder Institute for American Art. It helped fund Colby’s Environmental Humanities Summer Institute and the on-campus Environmental Education Day with local schoolchildren.

Halloran Lab for Entrepreneurship

The Halloran Lab for Entrepreneurship, directed by Jeremy Barron ’00 and funded with a gift from Trustee Emeritus Todd Halloran ’84, provides students with opportunities and experiences to innovate and explore the process of creating solutions to problems they see in the world. Barron, who majored in anthropology and biology at Colby, is an expert on business development and cofounder of a technology company that he helped build into an industry leader.
Associate Professor of Biology Dave Angelini discusses insects—his research speciality—with CAPS students.
ABOVE: Associate Professor of Biology Dave Angelini discusses insects—his research speciality—with CAPS students.
Unique among liberal arts colleges, the Halloran Lab for Entrepreneurship prepares students to be effective innovators and entrepreneurs and provide them with opportunities and experiences for understanding and applying the principles of entrepreneurship. Halloran has spent much of his career investing in and working with business leaders and entrepreneurs.

The lab will offer training and real-world opportunities for students who are interested in beginning new business ventures or improving existing ones. The lab will provide education and training, funding for students to start commercial and social enterprises and initiatives, mentorship, and maker spaces on campus and in downtown Waterville.

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