Laguna Blanca Opens New Science Center

It’s open—and it’s beautiful.

On Monday, September 27, there was a ribbon-cutting and VIP guest reception for the new 5,500 square-foot Center for Science and Innovation at Laguna Blanca School’s Hope Ranch campus, which houses the Nakamura STEM Research and Innovation Lab, the updated Jackson Physics Lab, the Mosher Foundation Outdoor Classroom, Gainey Biology Lab, a Chemistry Lab, and the Hagerman Environmental Research Space.

Guests who funded the center included Shuji Nakamura, a Nobel Laureate and UCSB CREE Distinguished Professor in Materials Science, and his wife, Yuki; Jim Jackson of Montecito’s Ann Jackson Family Foundation; Ed & Sue Birch of The Mosher Foundation; David Jackson of the Zegar Foundation, and Elisabeth Fowler, co-chair of the fundraising campaign and recently named Philanthropist of the Year. Sue Birch, a former Laguna Blanca teacher, opened the school’s first computer science lab in the 1980s. Jackson at his Physics Lab shared, “The campus improved their science facility to offer a broader array of programs, and our family is proud to support it now and in the future.”

Additional funders of the $8.5 million campaign not present were Wendy & Harry Atterbury/Whimsie Foundation, Tracy & Michael Bollag, Sue & Brent Bickett, Lisa & Mitchell Green, Chris & Bob Emmons, Lisa Hearst Hagerman & George Hagerman, Alicia Miñana and Robert Lovelace ’80, the Gainey Family’s Elaine F. Stepanek Foundation, and campaign co-chair Josh Connor.

Also attending were Jim and Mary Morouse, Board Co-chairs Billy Fitzpatrick & Tom Tolles, Stephanie & Dewey Nicks, Julie & Mason Farrell ’80, Brett Hodges, Geoff Wyatt ’79, Tiffany Pelletier, Bob Fuladi, Valerie Rice, Science Department Chair Staci Richard, and many of the school’s STEM and Science Instructors, July 2021 appointed Head of School Ron Cino, Head of Lower School and Assistant Head of School Andy Surber, students, faculty, and staff.

“While co-chairing Building on Strength: The Campaign for Laguna’s Future, it was an absolute pleasure to work with our whole community to realize this project to benefit our students, faculty, and campus for the long term,” Fowler said.

Tech equipment in the center includes fume hoods, biotechnology equipment, and a controlled growth chamber in the Chemistry Lab and Gainey Biology lab; 3D printing, fabrication tools, circuit design, digital creation of augmented reality, virtual reality, and 3D CAD content in the Nakamura lab; PASCO Scientific Stations for collecting experimental data in the Jackson Physics Lab; marine biology and environmental science studies supported via the Mosher Foundation Outdoor Classroom and Hagerman Environmental Research Space.

The ribbon-cutting program was kicked off by Surber, who announced the purchase of their Montecito campus, Fitzpatrick and Tolles, Fowler, Cino, and Richard who presented a detailed listing of the equipment and courses to be taught, avenues of development with UCSB and schools nationwide, and the legacy of the center.

Along with the students, Richard cut the ribbon on the center.

Surber concluded the reception, and led the guests in a thunderous “Go Owls!”