Where sustainable research becomes standard practice.

Our Vision

To make Boston Children’s Hospital a global model for sustainable research — where every lab actively reduces its environmental footprint without compromising science, safety, or discovery.

By 2030, BCH Green Labs will:

  • Lead the transition to low-carbon research
    Supporting Boston Children’s Hospital’s carbon neutrality goals by driving measurable energy and emissions reductions across the research enterprise.

  • Cut single-use lab plastics at the source
    Through reuse, recycling, and procurement reform, diverting thousands of pounds of plastic from landfills and incineration each year.

  • Make sustainability part of everyday research culture
    Ensuring every lab participates in at least one Green Labs initiative annually — from the Freezer Challenge to Shut the Sash to Lab Plastics Recycling.

  • Turn data into action
    Tracking energy, waste, and engagement metrics and translating them into cost savings, carbon reductions, and real operational improvements.

  • Empower researchers as climate leaders
    Providing tools, training, and recognition so sustainability becomes a shared responsibility — not a side project.

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Meet the team

Chuck Blanchette

Chuck Blanchette is a leader in sustainability at Boston Children’s Hospital, serving as Co-Chair of the Environmental Sustainability Employee Lead Group (ELG) and leader of the BCH Green Labs program. In his role, Chuck drives innovative energy-saving initiatives, such as the hospital's award-winning participation in the I2SL and My Green Lab International Freezer Challenge, where BCH won the Top Clinical Award from 2022 through 2026.


Chuck is a My Green Lab Accredited Professional and serves on the I2SL Northeast Chapter Board, contributing to regional sustainability advancements in laboratory operations.

Currently pursuing a DBA, he focuses on inspiring the next generation of sustainable leaders. His work emphasizes energy efficiency, recycling innovation, and achieving BCH’s ambitious climate goals.

Emily Hickey

Emily Hickey is a Research Laboratory Supervisor in the Division of Genetics and Genomics at Boston Children's Hospital, where she has been a member of Dr. Alan Beggs' laboratory since 2013. Her work focuses on advancing research into congenital myopathies, rare genetic diseases, and the molecular mechanisms that drive these complex disorders, helping pave the way for future therapies and improved patient outcomes.

Beyond the bench, Emily is committed to building more efficient and sustainable research laboratories through the Boston Children's Hospital Green Labs Program. As both a scientist and a parent, she believes healthcare institutions have a responsibility to advance life-changing discoveries while protecting the environment for future generations.

For Emily, scientific excellence and environmental stewardship are inseparable—creating healthier futures for both patients and the planet.

Anne Ellett, PhD

Anne Ellett, PhD is the Lab Manager for the Zon Lab at Boston Children's Hospital, where she combines cutting-edge biomedical research with laboratory operational excellence.

After earning her PhD from the University of Sheffield (UK), Anne joined the internationally recognized Zon Lab as a postdoctoral fellow, using zebrafish models to investigate hematopoietic stem cell development, blood cancer biology, and the mechanisms that drive healthy blood formation.

Today, she applies that same scientific rigor to advancing laboratory management, improving research operations, and leading laboratory sustainability initiatives through the Boston Children's Hospital Green Labs Program.

A passionate advocate for sustainable science, Anne believes world-class research and environmental stewardship go hand in hand, creating laboratories that are more efficient, resilient, and better equipped to accelerate discoveries that improve human health.

Marly Thomas

Marly Thomas is an Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) Program Safety Officer at Boston Children’s Hospital who serves as a key liaison between EHS and the Green Labs program. She works with research and clinical labs to reduce risk while advancing sustainability goals, including partnering with more than 30 labs to eliminate methylene chloride and strengthen worker protection efforts.

With over 12 years of EHS experience and a background in occupational and environmental hygiene, Marly helps teams implement safer, practical solutions that support both compliance and research productivity.

Henri Lemos Brito

Henri serves as a Research Operations Coordinator at Boston Children's Hospital, helping ensure that scientists have the infrastructure, resources, and operational support they need to advance groundbreaking research.

Working at the intersection of research operations, laboratory management, and scientific infrastructure, he coordinates the administrative, logistical, and facilities services that keep laboratories running safely and efficiently.

As a member of the Boston Children's Green Labs Program, Henri combines his passion for laboratory sustainability with practical solutions that improve infrastructure, optimize waste reduction, and strengthen sustainable supply chain practices. He believes that exceptional research depends on exceptional operations—and that building more sustainable laboratories is essential to accelerating scientific discovery while protecting the environment.

Yuu Ishikawa

Yuu is currently a research assistant in the Camargo Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital, primarily studying hematopoietic stem cell and immune-stem cell dynamics, as well as their potential for therapy.

She joined the Green Labs team to help advocate for and integrate environmental responsibility in scientific research culture. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis, getting more into running lately, cooking, and playing music with family and friends.

Denise Klatt

Denise is a postdoc in the Brendel Lab where she develops novel gene therapies for non-malignant blood disorders. Her current work focuses on engineering novel tools for genome editor delivery into blood stem cells and on developing an in vivo gene therapy to treat sickle cell anemia. She joined BCH Green Labs to reduce the environmental footprint on our planet.

Julia Ehrmann

(Alumna)

Julia Ehrmann is a Postdoc in the Lencer Lab at Boston Children's Hospital and studies intestinal epithelial membrane biology. She joined the Boston Children's Hospital Green Labs initiative to spread awareness about how greener practices, such as minimizing waste and energy usage, can lead to more efficient healthcare delivery. Her goal is to contribute to a healthier future, both for patients as well as the planet.

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Stephanie Ragland, PhD

Steph is one of our co-founders of the BCH Green Labs. She is a postdoc in the Kagan lab and still supports the BCH Green Lab Program today.

Tracy Zhang (Alumna)

Tracy is a research assistant in Dr. Joel Hirschhorn and Dr. Nada Kalaany's lab at Boston Children's Hospital/ HMS studying cancer metabolism and metabolic syndromes. She loves working with the Green Labs team to find solutions to infuse sustainability into research operations and culture. 

Dariana Mota

(Alumna)

Dariana Mota is a research assistant at Margaret Stefater-Richards’ laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital. Margaret's lab focuses on understanding mechanisms behind effective treatments, more specifically bariatric surgery, for obesity and obesity-related comorbidities, such as Type 2 Diabetes. In her free time, Dariana enjoys exploring new workout studios around the city with friends. Do not hesitate to reach out if you would like to join her for a class!

Haley Ohlson

(Alumna)

Haley is a research assistant in the Chiarle lab at BCH and studies cancer immunotherapy in neuroblastoma and non-small cell lung cancer. Currently she is involved with investigating dual CAR-T cells and how they can be applied within a 3D tumor microenvironment simulation. She joined the Green Labs team to advocate and educate about more sustainable practices in science and research 

Riley Brook

(Alumna)

Riley Brook was a Research Assistant in the Kanarek Laboratory at Boston Children's Hospital, studying metabolic adaptations of migrating cells. Her focus in the lab is metabolomics and liquid-chromatography coupled mass-spectrometry method development. She is passionate about sustainability and identifying green alternatives to current research practices. We wish her well as she has moved on to Med School! Thank you for all of your help!

Valen Lagomarsino (Alumna)

Valen recently earned her PhD in Biological Biomedical Sciences from Harvard Medical School. She is formally from the Rao Lab and has moved to California to pursue her career in her field. She is our former leader and has been a driving force at BCH Green Labs for over two years.

Andrew Castro

Andrew is a Research Manufacturing Engineer in Dr. Martha Murray’s Lab and the Center for Orthopedic Research Translation at BCH. His experience is in developing medical devices (class II and III) from concept development all the way through manufacturing validation leading to commercialization. In his experience, manufacturing medical devices leads to a large amount of waste that is not sustainable, like research labs. He joined BCH Green Labs to help labs become more sustainable for the environment.

Belinda Chen

(Alumna)

Belinda is a Research Assistant in Dr. Carla Kim’s lab at Boston Children’s Hospital. Her research is focused on establishing lung organoids from human patient samples to expand upon current models of lung disease. What started as an effort to reduce single-use plastic waste in the lab grew into a broader passion for advocating for environmentally sustainable research practices, leading her to join BCH Green Labs.