Innovative resource center brings scientific tools, hands-on learning, and STEM exploration to rural communities.

PHOENIX (Nov. 13, 2025) – The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), in partnership with Arizona State University (ASU) and the local community, celebrated the grand opening of Arizona’s first LABrary, an innovative community-based science resource center located at the Paton Center for Hummingbirds in Patagonia.

A LABrary is a resource center where anyone can check out scientific tools, like microscopes, water quality meters, and lab kits, just like borrowing books from a traditional library. By providing access to professional-grade equipment, LABraries empower communities to explore local water and environmental issues, and collect meaningful data.

The LABrary opens the door for collaboration and innovation, said ADEQ Director Karen Peters. It’s a first-of-its-kind program that allows communities to engage directly in environmental science, contribute meaningful data, and explore solutions that protect Arizona’s water, air and land.

LABraries promote hands-on learning, STEM exploration, and access to scientific resources for all ages. Community scientists, educators, students, neighbors, and federal and state partners can borrow equipment to support environmental education, local monitoring, and data collection efforts. If the data collected will be verified and included in ADEQ’s database, participants must complete training and audits in accordance with the agency’s credible data rule.

The LABrary is more than a place, it’s a dream brought to life, said ADEQ Principal Scientist and Community Science Coordinator Meghan Smart. It’s a space where communities across Arizona can explore, ask questions, and discover the world around them. By giving people the tools to see, test, and understand their environment, we’re not just teaching science, we’re empowering curiosity, fostering collaboration, and making a real difference for our communities.

The Patagonia LABrary is the first of several planned across Arizona. Located on the Paton Center for Hummingbirds property, it is stocked with a wide variety of scientific tools and educational kits available for the surrounding community. Examples include:

• E. coli Processing Equipment
• Thermometers
• Water Level Meter
• Watershed and Groundwater Models
• Microscopes
• Trash Cleanup Kits
• Composting Kits
• Wet/Dry Mapping Materials

The Paton Center will soon establish regular LABrary hours for tours and equipment check-out, a step that will help connect more community members to water science and data collection opportunities.

This is a tremendous opportunity to connect community scientists with the high quality equipment needed to measure surface water and groundwater quality parameters, said Friends of Sonoita Creek Lab Coordinator and local retired teacher David Clovesko-Wharton. With our hydrologists within Friends of Sonoita Creek and professionals at ADEQ we will develop a training program that will enable our data collection to have authenticity and credibility.

Additional LABraries, funded by ASU’s Arizona Water Innovation Initiative, will open in Flagstaff and La Paz County, while ADEQ will fund three more in Payson, the White Mountains, and along the Colorado River.

The LABrary reflects what we’re striving for through the Arizona Water Innovation Initiative – bringing science, data, and community together to protect and sustain Arizona’s water resources, said Susan Craig, Director for ASU’s Impact Water. You can’t manage what you don’t monitor, and this space gives us a way to do just that together: to test, share, and learn from the data that drives decision making. Through Impact Water – Arizona, we were proud to support this effort by purchasing the equipment that makes the LABrary possible. We’re grateful for our partnership with ADEQ and for Meghan Smart’s vision and leadership in bringing this to life.

ASU’s Arizona Water Innovation Initiative employees received a Voluntary Environmental Stewardship Program (VESP) Award in recognition of its leadership and partnership in launching the first LABrary. The initiative’s collaboration with ADEQ and community partners has helped advance solutions that support Arizona’s long-term environmental goals.

These efforts are part of the Arizona Community Science Alliance (AZCSA), the first program of its kind among regulatory agencies in the nation. AZCSA unifies ADEQ’s community science programs under one initiative to enhance credible data collection and public engagement in environmental protection | Learn more about ADEQ’s award-winning AZCSA and get involved >

Other Resources

• Paton Center for Hummingbirds | View Site >
• ASU’s Arizona Water Innovation Initiative | Learn More >

Media Contact

ADEQ Public Information Officer
Ph: 602-329-6894
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