Dear all you lovely people,

Today marks the last day of our crowd funding campaign. Thanks so much to everyone who donated, shared our story, watched our video, or talked to their friends. Although we didn’t meet our goal of $5000, we are so proud of what we have accomplished.

We found a real civic need that the people of Ottawa could rally around. We figured out a workable scientific protocol to address that need with options for technological upgrades and real-world application. We determined what we needed to develop this methodology, and decided the best way to go about it was to turn to residents of Ottawa, global cities, and the ever-reliable DIYbio community. We planned and executed a crowd funding campaign, complete with a pitch video to head our IndieGoGo page. Biotown had its story, vision, and personalities featured on CKCU, Ottawhat?, and CBC’s All in a Day, and we graced the pages of the University of Ottawa’s Iron Otis. We learned so much, individually and as a group, and we’re so happy to have raised the amount of money and interest that we have.

Just because we didn’t reach our goal doesn’t mean that DIY water testing is over. In fact, it’s very much the opposite. We had lofty aspirations, but even if we met them we would have had to plan carefully to carry our research to completion. Thanks to our dedication to the value of the project, and some very inspirational people and groups in Ottawa who care about democratizing science and environmental sustainability, we’re confident we can see it through.

Our campaign page, www.igg.me/at/biotownottawa, will remain open as a platform for receiving donations. We are laying the groundwork for our water pathogen testing protocol. Refining the protocol should begin in earnest Spring 2018. In the meantime, we’ll continue to grow our offerings as Ottawa’s community biology lab with more workshops and a wider range of expertise.

Look forward to memberships becoming available in 2018. In the short term, consider attending OCIMM at the University of Ottawa the weekend of October 27th, and come paint with glow-in-the-dark bacteria on October 30th. For those who requested perks, we will start filling those orders soon.

Love,

Biotown

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