JHU had 51 entries representing 79 labs across Johns Hopkins University, collectively reducing energy consumption by an estimated 1,560 kWh/day! This is approximately the energy usage of 50+ single family homes per day! For our efforts this year, JHU was recognized among over 110 institutions as the TOP performing academic institution across the entire challenge. 

 There are 2 labs to highlight with awards in the International Freezer Challenge. Each of these labs will be featured in a fall issue of Lab Manager Magazine, in the My Green Lab and I2SL newsletters, and will recognized at the virtual ceremony in September. Congratulations to both labs!

The GI Oncology/Elizabeth Jaffee Lab in the Oncology Department at SOM, led by James Leatherman, earned the Academic Winning Streak Award, presented to a lab that won an award in 2024 (and 2023) and improved their chalenge score this year. 

The Quinn/Tobian Lab in the Pathology Department at SOM earned the Top Medium Sized Lab Award, presented to the lab that earned the highest score amongst labs in the academic sector with between 10-25 people. 

This year, JH Facilities & Real Estate and JHHS Facilities  offered an award of $3,000 to top-performing labs at Homewood and the School of Medicine. Congratulations to our winners!

School of Medicine: 

Large Lab: GI-Oncology/Elizabeth Jaffee Lab (Lab Lead: James Leatherman), Dept of Oncology

Small Lab: Meaghan Morris Lab (Lab Lead: Haidan Gao), Dept of Pathology

Homewood Campus:

Large Lab: Jeff Wang Lab (Lab Lead: Amelia Traylor), Dept of Mechanical Engineering

Small Lab: Honggang Cui Lab (Lab Lead: Myriel Kim), Dept of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

All winners (inlcuding some additional individual winners TBA) will receive their awards at the Freezer Challenge Awards Luncheon on September 16. Invitation and registration is required for attendance. Lab leads that participated in the Freezer Challenge should reach out to GreenLabs@jh.edu if they have not received their invitation. 

Registration free to anyone with a @jh.edu email address

*Green Lab Certifications officially enrolling for 2025-2026 Academic year*

Does your lab turn off equipment after use, have automatic lights, utilize outlet timers, or have high efficiency freezers? You likely are already eligible for a Green Labs certification!

Contact sustainability@jh.edu with questions or to start the process. 

Learn more here!

Check out Green Labs Ambassador Training* to learn more and start your lab off with more sustainable practices safe and beneficial to your experiments and work!

*you must be logged into myLearning in order to access this site

Welcome to the 2025-2026 academic year! As personnel and classes turn over, consider a full inventory check. This can help your lab know what samples, reagents, and stocks you have on hand, and assist in cleaning up and freeing up cold storage space! Some ideas on what to catalog:

- RT-qPCR probes from all lab members

- Cell line, bacteria, and plasmid stocks

- Antibodies

- Pipet tips (check your drawers, you might have a lot of extra!)

Read all recommendations on the Best Practices Guide here.