Community Science Institute

What Community Science Institute does

Community Science Institute (CSI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2000 in Ithaca, New York, that combines a NYSDOH-ELAP-certified water testing laboratory with a volunteer-driven community science network to monitor streams, lakes, and private drinking water sources across the Finger Lakes and Central New York regions. Its core technical assets are the certified lab at 95 Brown Rd (Langmuir Lab), which provides fee-based analysis for coliform bacteria, nitrates, lead, and other parameters, and a public online Water Quality Database at database.communityscience.org that hosts more than 80,000 data points collected over two decades across the Cayuga Lake, Seneca Lake, and Upper Susquehanna River monitoring regions, including a separate Harmful Algal Bloom (HABs) Database launched in 2023 and a pre-fracking groundwater baseline dataset.

CSI's product portfolio spans the Cayuga Lake HABs Monitoring Program (launched 2018 with Cayuga Lake Watershed Network and Discover Cayuga Lake), long-running synoptic stream and lake monitoring (since 2002), biological monitoring via benthic macroinvertebrates, a Groundwater Baseline Initiative covering 250+ private wells, and youth education programs including 4-H2O / Journey of Water. Operational reach spans the Finger Lakes, Central NY, Cayuga Lake, Seneca Lake, and Upper Susquehanna regions, supported by partnerships with Trout Unlimited, Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association, CoCoRaHS, Sciencenter, and SUNY ESF, and recognition including the 2015 Richard B. Fischer Environmental Conservation Award.

The organization is led by Executive Director Grascen Shidemantle, PhD, who assumed the role full-time in July 2022 after a part-time handover from founding Executive Director Dr. Stephen Penningroth. CSI completed its first strategic plan in August 2024 and adopted new mission and vision statements in November 2024. Revenue is generated through three channels: fee-for-service lab testing (usage-based, with a 20% member discount on certified analysis), individual and business memberships, and foundation grants (Park Foundation, Legacy Foundation of Tompkins County, Community Foundation of Tompkins County). The operating model is community-led: CSI delivers value primarily through grassroots volunteer partnerships, public education, and institutional grants rather than conventional B2B sales, and its customer base is long-tail and geographically dispersed across the Finger Lakes.

Name

Community Science Institute

Legal name

Community Science Institute

Website

https://communityscience.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Community Science Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Ithaca, NY that operates the only nonprofit NYSDOH-ELAP-certified water testing lab in Tompkins County, combining certified lab services, a volunteer monitoring network, and a public online water quality database serving Finger Lakes residents, businesses, and government agencies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Testing & Water Quality Services

NAICS

Testing Laboratories and Services (54138)

SIC

Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)

akta.pro primary industry

Laboratory Testing & Analytical Services (in-house/contract labs; microbiology, metals, organics) (EUANAJAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Water Quality Monitoring, Compliance & Reporting (Sampling, Lab, Regulatory) (EUANAAAG), Water Quality Monitoring (Surface Water, Stormwater, Drinking Water) (EUAHACAC)

Keywords

• Water quality monitoring
• Environmental laboratory services
• Watershed protection
• Citizen science programs
• Harmful algal bloom monitoring

Headquarters

HQ city

Ithaca

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Fee-for-Service Laboratory Analysis: CSI provides fee-based water analysis services for residents, businesses, and government agencies. This includes testing for coliform bacteria, nitrates, lead, and other water quality parameters. Members receive 20% discount on certified lab analysis.
2. Donations and Memberships: Organization relies on donations from supporters and members. The Business Membership Program offers partnerships to local businesses. Members receive benefits including discounts on lab services.
3. Foundation Grants: CSI receives grant funding from foundations such as Legacy Foundation of Tompkins County and the Park Foundation for specific programs like precipitation monitoring and youth education.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Community Science Institute provides fee-based, NYSDOH-ELAP certified water testing for drinking water, streams, and lakes to residents, businesses, and government agencies. It also operates volunteer-driven monitoring programs (Cayuga Lake HABs Monitoring, Synoptic Stream & Lake Monitoring, Biological Monitoring) and educational programs (Journey of Water, 4-H2O Youth Science Club), with all collected data published to a public online Water Quality Database.

Product overview

Community Science Institute operates as a nonprofit organization offering a portfolio of interconnected water quality monitoring and education services centered around a public online Water Quality Database. Core offerings include NYSDOH-ELAP certified laboratory water testing services for drinking water, streams, and lakes, combined with extensive volunteer monitoring programs including Harmful Algal Bloom (HABs) monitoring (since 2018), biological monitoring (biomonitoring), and synoptic stream sampling (since 2002). Educational programs include the Journey of Water program and 4-H2O Youth Science Club. All volunteer-collected data and certified lab results feed into the public Water Quality Database for community access.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Water Quality Database

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 80,000 water quality data points collected with volunteer help
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) - American Fisheries Society ChapterminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 December 2025CSI was a bronze level supporter of the SUNY ESF University Chapter of the American Fisheries Society first annual meeting. CSI staff represented the organization at the event.
• Trout UnlimitedminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Owego Creek Tributaries Monitoring Project partnership focused on stream monitoring in the Owego Creek watershed.
• Cayuga Lake Watershed NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Long-term partnership for harmful algal bloom monitoring on Cayuga Lake. The Cayuga Lake Watershed Network collaborates with CSI on the volunteer HABs Harriers program and coordinates public awareness of water quality issues.
• SciencenterminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2014Partnership with Sciencenter's Future Science Leaders Counselor-In-Training program for youth science education and stream exploration.
• Seneca Lake Pure Waters AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2014Collaboration to monitor streams flowing into Seneca Lake, including Catherine Creek, Big Stream, and Reeder Creek. CSI provides certified laboratory analysis while SLPWA recruits and trains volunteers.
• CoCoRaHS (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Collaborative precipitation monitoring project where CSI provided free rain gauges to volunteers around the region.
• Discover Cayuga Lake (Floating Classroom)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012Ongoing partnership for the 4-H2O Youth Science Club and water quality education. CSI partners with the Floating Classroom to collect and analyze water samples from Cayuga Lake aboard the MV Teal/Haendel.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Pace Analytical: A large commercial environmental testing laboratory network that offers the same accredited water analysis services CSI provides through its NYSDOH-ELAP lab, but operates commercially across a national footprint rather than as a community-based nonprofit.
• Eurofins Environment Testing: A global commercial environmental testing laboratory that performs drinking water, surface water, and microbiology analyses for municipalities and businesses — the for-profit, scaled analog of CSI's certified laboratory operation.

Direct peers

• Riverkeeper: A New York nonprofit that conducts water quality testing, advocates for watershed protection, and publishes data on Hudson River and tributary conditions — operating the same state-certified lab/monitoring combination CSI runs in the Finger Lakes.
• Lake Stewards of Maine: A volunteer-driven nonprofit running statewide lake water quality monitoring programs with a public data portal — directly analogous to CSI's synoptic sampling, HABs Harriers, and public Water Quality Database structure.
• Stroud Water Research Center: A Pennsylvania-based nonprofit freshwater research institute that combines a certified environmental laboratory with long-running volunteer stream-monitoring programs and public data dissemination — closely mirroring CSI's lab-plus-citizen-science model.
• Izaak Walton League of America: A national conservation nonprofit that operates volunteer stream and lake water quality monitoring programs (e.g., Save Our Streams) with public data products — comparable to CSI as a nonprofit citizen-science water monitoring organization.
• Waterkeeper Alliance: A global nonprofit that supports local Waterkeeper organizations performing citizen-science water quality testing and advocacy — the umbrella institutional model whose local chapters share CSI's lab-plus-volunteer playbook.
• Cayuga Lake Watershed Network: A Finger Lakes nonprofit dedicated to protecting Cayuga Lake's water quality through monitoring, public education, and advocacy — directly parallel to CSI's watershed-protection mission and overlapping geography (also a CSI partner on the HABs program).

Others

• SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF): SUNY-ESF is CSI's primary academic partner for student research and education programs (e.g., 4-H2O); while academic rather than a service competitor, its water research output and credentialed training role are deeply intertwined with CSI's operations.
• USGS New York Water Science Center: The federal agency that operates the statewide stream and lake monitoring network which CSI's volunteer synoptic program explicitly supplements; an enabling/regulatory counterpart rather than a direct competitor, but the benchmark customer for high-quality water data in the same region.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/communityscience
• Facebookfacebook.com/CommunityScience
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/community-science-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Community Science Institute