Civil Society Laboratory Monitoring Collaborations to promote local laboratory oversight Since 2001, the Sunshine Project has worked with a variety of individuals and organizations in communities affected by the dramatic expansion of the US biodefense program. We advise and collaborate with these groups to help them monitor labs and, in some cases, oppose their construction. The Sunshine Project is able to provide subject matter expertise, collaborate using open records laws, and help draw public and media attention to policy and safety issues raised by biodefense research. Organizations that we have worked with include, among others, the Citizens Education Project (Salt Lake City, UT), Tri-Valley CAREs (Livermore, CA), LabWatch (Seattle, WA), ACE-EJ (Boston, MA), Los Alamos Study Group (Albuquerque, MN) and NukeWatch of New Mexico (Los Alamos).