Who We Are, Where We Are,
and How We’re Organized

The Community Science Institute (CSI) was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 2000 and obtained 501©3 tax-exempt status in 2002. Our laboratory was certified by the New York State Department of Health – Environmental Laboratory Approval Program in 2003 (ELAP #11790).

CSI is governed by a seven-person Board of Directors that meets every other month. CSI is staffed by a full-time Executive Director who also serves as the Technical Director of CSI’s certified laboratory; a half-time youth coordinator/web designer; a part-time laboratory technician; and a part-time student intern. CSI’s budget has grown from $450 in 2000 to $52,000 in 2005.

CSI’s water quality testing laboratory occupies 330 sq. ft. of rented space in the Langmuir Building located at 95 Brown Road in the Cornell Business and Technology Park near the Ithaca-Tompkins Regional Airport. The CSI lab is certified for a total of 30 matrix-analyte combinations, making it the largest certified laboratory in Tompkins County – in terms of number of tests, not space!

The CSI lab tests both drinking water samples from private wells and stream and lake samples collected by volunteers. If you are a homeowner and need to have your well water tested, or if you are a potential volunteer who would like to learn more about monitoring partnerships, we suggest you browse this website first. If you would like to communicate with a live person, please write, call or email:

Directions to CSI lab:

Take Route 13 north from Ithaca, following the signs to the Ithaca-Tompkins Regional Airport. At the first light after the malls, turn left onto Warren Road, then right at the first light into the Cornell Business and Technology Park. Follow Brown Road past the airport to the Langmuir Laboratory, #95 Brown Road, which is the last building on the right before looping back to Route 13. The CSI lab is on the far right end of the building on the second floor, room 284.

Sample bottles and lab hours:

Sample bottles and instructions for the basic potability test for drinking water (total coliform and E. Coli bacteria) are on the door of the lab in brown paper bags and may be picked up any time during regular business hours. Bottles are also provided for chemical tests such as nitrate and lead. Sample drop-off times are Monday through Thursday, 1:00 to 4:00 PM.