A power outage lasting four days at Western University in London, Ontario has resulted in the loss of vital research samples, disrupted experiments, and raised concerns among biology students and faculty about the university’s ability to safeguard millions of dollars worth of scientific research.

The Biological & Geological Sciences Building, Materials Sciences Addition, Chemistry Building, and Natural Sciences Centre have been running on backup power following an incident at a campus power substation. Although power was restored to most buildings on Friday evening, the four affected buildings are still operating on backup power as repair work continues. Access to these buildings has been limited as a precaution, with the university working closely with students and staff to address individual needs, including facilitating research requirements.

This recent outage marks the fifth major disruption to biology research facilities since August 2025, prompting concerns among faculty members like Beth MacDougall-Shackleton, a biology professor. MacDougall-Shackleton emphasized the critical need for stable conditions for living organisms and temperature-sensitive materials in biology research. Issues such as overheating growth chambers, thawing research sample freezers, and restricted access to animals used in studies have been reported.

The outage has led to significant financial losses in replacing reagents, enzymes, and other research materials, but the more substantial impact lies in the loss of irreplaceable research samples. Graduate students, who have invested months or years in breeding insects, growing plants, and cultivating bacterial strains, now face the possibility of having their work rendered obsolete.

Calls for action have been made by students and faculty, urging the university to enhance communication during outages and invest in upgrading the campus electrical system to prevent future disruptions. The repeated outages not only threaten Western’s reputation but also raise concerns about potential funding losses for research projects.

Moreover, the outages have hindered researchers’ access to animal facilities, posing risks to ongoing experiments and animal welfare. MacDougall-Shackleton highlighted the need for Western to address these issues promptly to prevent further setbacks in research activities and potential financial implications.