RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) - Some Richmond students got out of the classroom and into the lab as part of National Lab Week. Students from Maggie Walker Governor's School spent Tuesday on a tour of the Department of General Services - Division of Consolidated Lab Services (DCLS) on North 5th Street in downtown Richmond.
Scientists at DCLS perform more than 7 million test a year. Those tests include everything from determining the nature of "suspicious" white powders to screening newborns for disorders.
Virginia First Lady Dorthy McAuliffe also made an appearance at the lab for National Lab Week.
“It was an honor for me to join such bright students to celebrate National Laboratory Week,” Mrs. McAuliffe said in a statement. “One of our experiments highlighted the importance of conservation, preventing pollution, and what our labs do to help protect the environment. Not only was this a unique opportunity for these students to get excited about science, but also a chance to see its application in the real-world and the important work that our laboratory professionals do to keep the Commonwealth healthy and safe.”
DCLS trains over 5,000 scientists, certifies nearly 100 laboratories, and prepares and distributes over 300,000 test collection kits across the state, according to the Department of General Services.
