Mobile science lab parks outside Astoria Houses

The organization BioBus will park a mobile science center outside the Astoria Houses. Photo via BioBus

By Rachel Vick

A mobile science program will permanently park outside the Astoria Houses to boost local students’ access to science and technology, Councilmember Costa Constantinides announced Thursday.

The BioBus, a classic Airstream tricked out with $400,000 worth of research-grade lab equipment, is wheelchair accessible and features adaptive equipment to cater to everyone from young students to established scientists. Constantinides said the bus is popular among local children.

“[Seeing] the wonder on their faces, the curiosity about the natural world, their desire to learn more — that's the spark,” he said. “This is all about creating that spark, that love of science. For young people it’s giving them that possibility to say,’ Oh I want to do that, I want to learn more.’”

“Give them that window into a whole new world that they never even knew existed,” he added. “The kids at Astoria Houses can be the scientists of the future.”

The BioBus does indeed inspire a love for science, said former participant Nicholas Bustamante, an engineering major at Binghamton University.

“I never expected science to be as engaging as the BioBus made it because when you're a high school student, and even through college, science is very linear,” said Bustamante, who first connected with the program during his sophomore year at Benjamin Cardozo High School. 

Bustamante said he took on a research project examining the mechanics of the human eye, who spurred his desire to pursue the real-world application of abstract concepts like physics.

In high school classes, he said, “you learn the basics but don’t really get to explore why things are the way they are, and through BioBus, you understand the topic and really fall in love with how the science behind everything functions in our lives.”

Many of his former classmates also wanted to participate, but a two-hour commute to the BioBus’ primary location in Harlem was a major roadblock, he said.

“When they have access to those close environments, close to home, they become more engaged and more influenced by science,” Bustamante said. “There really is no excuse to [not] chase their dreams “