Scientific instruments
for every scale of the natural world.
Measurement, across disciplines.
Earth Tools is a scientific-instruments company working across optics, microfluidics, molecular biology, and ecology. The measurement problems we focus on often require capabilities from more than one of these fields.
Our instruments are designed around specific measurement targets and integrate optical, fluidic, biological, and electronic components into single systems.
Measurement with light.
Our optics work includes imaging systems, spectrometers, and custom detector configurations built for scientific measurement.
Optics underlies many of our measurements. Applications include identifying molecular composition, resolving biological samples at cellular or subcellular scale, and quantifying the concentration of analytes in solution.
Chemistry in microchannels.
Our microfluidics work includes flow cells, microchannels, and droplet-based compartmentalization. These systems handle samples at volumes and flow rates that are impractical with conventional liquid handling.
We use microfluidics where experiments require high sample throughput, controlled chemical environments, or direct integration with optical or electronic readout.
Biology, quantified.
Our molecular biology work includes strain engineering, assay development, and the characterization of reference biological systems.
This work is closely tied to instrument development. A well-characterized biological reference is often what makes a new measurement method reproducible across experiments, operators, and laboratories.
Outside the lab.
Our ecology work includes instruments and study designs for measurements taken outside the laboratory, across soil, water, air, and canopy environments.
Field measurements require instruments that remain accurate under non-laboratory conditions. Our work addresses both the hardware and the experimental design needed to produce reliable data in the field.
Scientists and engineers with a track record.
The cofounders' prior work includes research conducted at Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Boston University, Arizona State University, the University of Montana, and OXMAN. Publications include Nature Biotechnology, Molecular Cell, Cell Reports, and Nucleic Acids Research.
Work with us.
We welcome inquiries from scientists, engineers, and organizations whose work relates to ours.