Project Overview
Ontrack Moving® moved the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center's West Coast marine lab out of Farallon Hall on the Romberg Tiburon Campus and to two Richmond sites in one day: the Richmond Field Station on South 46th Street and the Craneway Pavilion on Harbour Way South. Four trucks and ten movers finished the job the same day.
Project at a Glance
- The client: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, West Coast marine invasions lab.
- The route: Tiburon to the Richmond Field Station and the Craneway Pavilion.
- The day: four trucks and ten movers, about thirteen hours.
- The lab equipment: four large fish tanks, three incubators, freezers, refrigerators and rolling wire racks.
Why Did the Smithsonian's Tiburon Lab Have to Move?
Ontrack Moving® moved the lab after San Francisco State University announced in February 2025 that it would close the Romberg Tiburon Campus, where the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center had run its West Coast marine lab.
Since 2000, the Smithsonian's Tiburon team has studied invasive species, biodiversity and the restoration of the Olympia oyster, with a long-term focus on San Francisco Bay. The university cited the cost of maintaining the waterfront campus, and the lab needed a new home to keep its research going.
How Was the Move Planned?
Ontrack Moving® surveyed the lab in person at its building on the water in Tiburon and prepared three proposals, each for a different drop-off location the lab was considering, then revised the plan as the lab settled on its new home and its budget.
The lab found Ontrack through a web search and requested a quote on our website. Ontrack worked with the lab's team to adjust the proposal to fit its needs, staying in contact throughout as the site and the scope changed. The lab's research samples, kept in buckets of ethanol, were transported by a separate hazmat company the lab hired, so they were outside the move. When the lab flagged a few heavy pieces, Ontrack sent trucks with liftgates for them.
What Does Moving a Marine Research Lab Involve?
Ontrack Moving® moved the lab's equipment once the lab staff had drained the fish tanks and emptied the incubators, freezers and refrigerators, so the crew moved empty equipment, and the lab's samples went with a hazmat company.
This was not a cleanroom lab. It was a working field-research lab: four large fish tanks, three incubators, a chest freezer, refrigerator freezers, benchtop devices, seven rolling wire racks, pallets and an aluminum ramp, alongside the offices. The lab staff also packed the boxes themselves, around 135 of them, and the crew moved the labeled contents of the lab's rooms and outdoor area.
The crew rolled the heavier pieces on four machine carts, eighteen four-wheel dollies and a pallet jack, carried smaller items in speed packs, and covered what needed it in shrink wrap and foam monitor bags.
What Was Hard About the Tiburon Site?
Ontrack Moving® reached Farallon Hall through the campus gates, down a steep driveway and then up a second driveway that climbs steeply back toward the building, with four trucks working the same day.
The Tiburon building and the main Richmond site were both on the ground floor with short walks, so the hard part was the road in and out, not the building.
Not everything was inside. Pallets of research equipment sat outside the building, so Ontrack brought trucks with powered liftgates and a pallet jack to move them straight from the ground onto the trucks.
Why Did the Day Run Thirteen Hours?
Ontrack Moving® planned the move at three trucks, nine movers and about nine and a half hours, then added a fourth truck when the lab decided to bring more items than the survey covered, and kept the crew on to finish in one day.
A moving estimate is built on the inventory at the survey. When more items go on move day, the trucks, the crew and the hours grow with them. Here the job ran long and finished the same day. Final charges will be based on actual labor time, materials used, access conditions, scope changes, waiting time, and any additional services requested or required to complete the move.
From the Owner
"Planning is half the battle. Executing properly is the other half. The deployment of the right resources is key." Pablo Giordano, Owner, Ontrack Moving®. On this move, that meant adding a fourth truck and adjusting the move sequence when the lab's scope grew.
How Did One Lab Go to Two Richmond Sites?
Ontrack Moving® delivered the lab to two Richmond sites on the same day, the Craneway Pavilion on Harbour Way South and the Richmond Field Station on South 46th Street, about seven minutes apart, with the trucks loaded by stop.
The lab labeled each item with its destination before move day. The lab planned to send roughly 80 to 90 percent of the boxes to the Craneway Pavilion and the rest to the Richmond Field Station. Ontrack added both stops to the job notes so the crew loaded each truck by stop.
One Day, Three Stops
- Tiburon: load the lab and offices at Farallon Hall on the Romberg Tiburon Campus.
- Richmond Field Station, South 46th Street: deliver the items marked for the field station.
- Craneway Pavilion, Harbour Way South: deliver the items marked for Craneway, most of the boxes.
Moving a Research Lab in the Bay Area?
Tell us what your staff will empty and pack, and where each part of the lab is going. We will plan the trucks, crew and stops around it. See our laboratory moving services, our East Bay laboratory movers page, or call (888) 914-8787.
Every figure on this page is from the job record: trucks, crew, hours and equipment from Ontrack Moving® dispatch and billing, the inventory and access notes from the moving proposal and job file, and the destinations and plan from the client's emails. The Romberg Tiburon Campus closure is from The Ark's February 2025 reporting, and the lab's research background is from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.