2026-08-17T10:42:23-07:00 2025-12-31 990 2025-01-01 460738285 BALTIMORE UNDERGROUND SCIENCE SPACE Inc BALT 4434528498 101 North Haven Street Suite 105 Baltimore MD 21224 Thomas Burkett PhD president 2026-07-31 2025 2025-03-06 01:10:19Z Thomas Burkett PhD 14 Howard Avenue Catonsville MD 21228 177995 0 X bugssonline.org X 2012 MD Baltimore Under Ground Science Space, Inc. (BUGSS) fosters a community of citizen-scientists who can explore biotechnology in a safe, constructive and socially responsible manner. A community laboratory promoting education and understanding of biotechnology, BUGSS offers courses, informational talks, community projects, workshops, student science-fair assistance and an open laboratory where individuals can conduct biotechnology experiments. We believe biotechnology and synthetic biology are the fabrication technologies of the future, and a key component of a sustainable economy in the mid-Atlantic region. We offer entrepreneurs access to low-cost laboratory space for early-stage, proof-of-concept and developmental experiments, and work to foster collaborations between biology, art, engineering and public policy to enhance innovation, stimulate curiosity and create new, interdisciplinary collaborations so that the full potential of biotechnology and synthetic biology can be reached. 8 8 3 80 0 0 153577 143086 41087 26598 0 0 0 8311 194664 177995 0 0 0 0 3763 14758 0 0 0 174903 180858 178666 195616 15998 -17621 142842 103910 77442 56130 65400 47780 See page 1, Part I, 1. 0 0 50097 0 79745 YOUTH COURSES AND SCHOOL PROGRAMS: BUGSS hosted classes, camps and outreach events to support science learning for students from kindergarten through high school. Students come from across the Baltimore region and either sign up as individuals or as part of homeschool groups. We served 163 students in twelve classes held at the BUGSS lab, on topics including acid-base chemistry, electrical signaling in plants and microbes, mycelium as a building material, randomness in mathematical functions, zebrafish development and techniques in molecular biotechnology. Several courses were taught by local graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and we continue to not only provide STEAM enrichment for students but also mentored teaching opportunities for fledgling instructors. In addition, we hosted a month-long elementary school camp for our nonprofit partner STEMx, hosted four high school interns, who were part of the Building Steps mentoring program, and hosted a two-week co-design workshop as part of the Synthetic Biology and Me program, an NSF-funded project for middle school students to design culturally responsive biomarker activities. We also engaged in thirteen outreach activities at schools, activity fairs and the Artscape arts festival, and a symposium honoring the 75th anniversary of the National Science Foundation. Furthermore, we partnered with the Bioeyes nonprofit educational organization to deliver a week-long program called Small Worlds to middle school students in Baltimore City. In 2025, this program reached over 500 students in seven different schools. 39107 0 60352 COMMUNITY AND INDIVIDUAL MEMBER PROJECTS: BUGSS occupies a unique niche in the Baltimore ecosystem by enabling people of all backgrounds to engage with sophisticated scientific research in a safe, supportive and collaborative space. We provide lab space, rigorous lab-safety training and oversight, procurement support and scientific guidance. BUGSS brings together people of diverse backgrounds, from hobbyists pursuing projects of personal interest to those working at the intersection of art and science, who are using living organisms as artistic collaborators, to new biotechnology companies, who are at the earliest stages of inception. By year-end, BUGSS had 29 individual members including eighteen student members. Several members pursued independent research on microbiology, plant biotechnology and cancer detection, and several prior members successfully transitioned from working in the BUGSS lab to working at larger bioincubator spaces as their companies grew and became more well established. This year, we focused on developing a more robust safety-training program that could accommodate members whenever they chose to join the lab and that could provide faster approval for their use of new chemicals and biological reagents. This focus has helped us to expand our capacity and professionalism. BUGSS continued to support two member projects. Open Insulin is a long-standing project in collaboration with Open Insulin Foundation. It met twice weekly to engineer yeast cells to express a long-acting form of the insulin protein, and our focus this year was to increase the level of protein produced to make a production strain that could be viable for small-scale manufacturing. BUGSS also collaborated with the NASA STELLA program to develop a low-cost fluorometer that would detect fluorescence from a biological sample. Because fluorescent molecules are often used as readouts of biological reactions, this instrument could help to democratize expensive biological instrumentation to make scientific research and education more accessible. 29246 0 18742 iGEM: The international Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) competition is the premiere international competition in synthetic biology. In 2025, we hosted our tenth consecutive team; our group of 21 high school students and nine mentors met at BUGSS throughout the spring and summer to pursue their research project. This year, the team chose an oncology project, working to develop a low-cost sensor for recurrence of triple-negative breast cancer, the deadliest form. Students designed a genetic system with chromogenic reporters to measure the levels of two microRNAs associated with this specific type of cancer. They consulted scientific experts, patients, caregivers and experts in diagnostic technologies to design a practical device. They then conducted extensive experimentation to demonstrate how well their system worked and what its limitations would be. The team also designed a wiki site, created video presentations to describe their work and engaged in education and outreach to the community. Some students traveled to the iGEM Jamboree in Paris, where they presented their work to a panel of expert judges, and our team was awarded a gold medal for their highly successful project. in addition, two groups of students continued to develop the project in new directions after the conclusion of iGEM's season, attesting to the power of the iGEM program at BUGSS to develop student interest and capabilities in long-term science careers. 41 0 10845 ADULT COURSES AND SEMINARS: BUGSS supports individual and group research projects, as previously described, but also provides foundational training allowing scientists and members of the public to learn modern science techniques in an applied manner and develop technical skills so that they can conduct more independent research. In 2025, BUGSS served 453 attendees at its adult courses and seminars. We hosted eight in-depth, hands-on courses for the public on topics spanning environmental metagenomics, personal genotyping, nanopore sequencing, lab robotics and Arduino-based lab hardware. We also hosted Lab Skills Nights, teaching fundamental molecular biology lab skills such as purifying proteins, DNA isolation and ELISA assays. BUGSS also facilitated science communication between professional scientists and our Baltimore community by sponsoring science seminars. We hosted four seminars on topics including the use of functional MRI to monitor Brain Dynamics in Schizophrenia, Sex, Genetics and Athletics, Rapid Detection of Pathogens and Gene Silencing in the Mitochondria. Our most popular offering this past year was our four Science Slam events, a group of 5-7 short, 5-minute talks from diverse scientists that we host at a community site. Science Slams bring science out of sequestered laboratories and into our Baltimore community, thereby achieving our mission of connecting people directly with the breadth and depth of scientific research being conducted in our region. 41 0 10845 118491 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 0 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 MD X Lisa Scheifele Executive Director 4434528498 101 North Haven Street Suite 105 Baltimore MD 21224 Joel Tyson director 5 0 X 11389 0 0 Thomas Burkett president 5 0 X X 0 0 0 Linda Saffer secretary 5 0 X X 0 0 0 Michael Johnson treasurer 5 0 X X 0 0 0 Lisa Scheifele executive director 20 0 X X 0 0 0 Jennifer Bonn director 5 0 X 0 0 0 Nina Rajpurohit director 5 0 X 0 0 0 Benjamin Wolfson director 5 0 X 0 0 0 11389 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17798 0 0 0 125288 0 143086 youth courses and school programs 900099 79745 79745 0 0 community, individual member projects 900099 60352 60352 0 0 iGEM 900099 18742 18742 0 0 adult courses and seminars 900099 10845 10845 0 0 adjustment 900099 -143086 -143086 0 0 26598 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8311 8311 0 0 8311 177995 34909 0 0 X 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11389 0 11389 0 0 0 0 0 2320 0 2320 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1049 0 1049 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1410 0 1410 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3402 2272 1130 0 119 0 119 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 40706 0 40706 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2605 0 2605 0 1728 0 1728 0 supplies 65216 61403 3813 0 stipends 25298 24560 738 0 registrations 14565 14565 0 0 utilities 5073 0 5073 0 20736 15691 5045 0 195616 118491 77125 0 119439 72411 0 0 0 0 696 793 0 0 0 0 0 0 142 400 850 1391 45481 11645 21715 33836 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -4921 142842 103910 1707 1448 0 0 75735 54682 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 77442 56130 X 65400 47780 0 0 65400 47780 142842 103910 X -17621 0 0 0 0 1 X 1 X 0 1 0 X 199139 87442 105293 175695 143086 710655 0 0 0 0 28509 28509 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 199139 87442 105293 175695 171595 739164 0 0 0 0 0 0 2967 206 15979 18969 0 38121 2967 206 15979 18969 0 38121 701043 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6400 6400 199139 87442 105293 175695 177995 745564 0.94029 0.8229 0 0 X Schedule A, Part III, Line 12 Adult Courses and Seminars, $2,861; Community and Individual Member Projects, $3,290; non-programmatic, $250. RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3680 307 3373 0 41801 11338 30463 0 0 0 0 33836 Joel Tyson director and employee 11389 Type W-2 compensation 0 Form 990, Header, Line D Taxpaying U. S. entities, as well as not-for-profit, tax-exempt entities, wishing to perpetuate their de minimis safe harbor election from year to year are required to append such election, every tax year, to the rear of the organization's return. Section 1.263(a)-1(f) De Minimis Safe Harbor Election. The taxpayer elects to make the de minimis safe harbor election under Regulation 1.263(a)-1(f). Name: Baltimore Under Ground Science Space, Inc.; Address: 101 North Haven Street, Suite 105, Baltimore, MD 21224; Federal Employer Identification Number: 46-0738285. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 11b Initially, a draft of the completed Form 990 and supporting schedules is reviewed by the executive director. Thereafter, it is reviewed by officers of the corporation and members of the Board of Directors. All parties review the data, have an opportunity to offer refinements to narratives as well as the overall presentation, and provide approval. Copies of the Form 990 package, as it is to be filed with IRS, are then provided to the full Board of Directors. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 12c Members of management and the Board of Directors are required to review and sign a conflict-of-interest form, which form discloses any such issues. Forms are reviewed to ensure compliance, and any areas of concern are thoroughly discussed and remedied at the time, and throughout the year. Individuals having a conflict of interest are required to recuse themselves from voting on matters for which they have a conflict. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 15 In 2025, there was no compensation paid to the CEO, executive director, other officers or key employees. In contemplation of such hirings, however, the corporation would consult industry pay scales and national associations for as-needed guidance, documenting such information and decision-making in contemporaneous minutes of Board of Directors meetings. Form 990, Part VI, Section C, Line 19 The organization maintains copies of its governing documents, policies and financial statements, which items are available for inspection during regular business hours at its principal office. It complies with all requests, oral or written, for copies of these documents. Form 990, Part IX, Line 24e Total program service expense of $15,693 (comprising fees, $4,466; postage, $74; professional fees, $492; refunds, $450; reimbursements, $6,211; workshops, $4,000) and management and general expense of $5,045 (comprising bank charges, $225; fees, $432; internet, $1,896; maintenance and repairs, $1,150; postage, $236; refunds, $102; reimbursements, $637; unemployment tax, $292; workshops, $75). Form 990, Part XI, Line 9 Rounding.