CSS staff support the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Division of Occupational Safety and Health by providing Safe Techniques Advance Research Science (STARS) training to summer interns. Following a pause during the pandemic, staff resumed training May 15, 2024. During the in-person STARS training, CSS staff cover key concepts from the pre-requisite NIH Lab Safety online training by working through two case studies: one biological hazard (salmonella typhi handling procedures), and one chemical hazard (acrylamide for gels). CSS trainers provide a show and tell while demonstrating the safety equipment in the mock lab. 

We anticipate training hundreds of interns this summer. 

We are proud to be training the next generation of researchers!

Man holds a sharps container while talking to students.
CSS staff train summer interns on laboratory safety equipment.
Woman points to a warning sign while talking to students
CSS staff train summer interns on the meaning of laboratory signs.

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Developing a Database for Ecosystem Service Models 

CSS scientists have been major developers and contributors to the online U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s EcoService Models Library (ESML) database since its inception in 2012. The ESML database contains detailed but concise descriptions of ecosystem service models to facilitate the selection of models by ecosystem scientists for a variety of management and research applications. The…

Collecting and Studying Deep-Sea Coral

Three of our staff supporting NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science joined a team of nine other scientists on a 12 day expedition to collect deep-sea coral samples in the Gulf of Mexico.

Beakers on a lab counter

An Approach to Assessing Laboratory Space 

CSS employee owners were part of a team of scientists at the National Institutes of Health who developed an approach to evaluating new laboratory space to determine if the space will fit operational needs. This concept, titled The BaseLINE Approach, combines traditional safety processes with additional safety and environmental factors to assess before operations begin.…