MDI Biological Laboratory was originally founded as the Harpswell Lab in 1898 by a biology professor at Tufts University, John Kingsley. MDI Biological Laboratory was originally established as a teaching and research laboratory in South Harpswell, Maine and focused on natural history, embryology, and comparative anatomy. Early investigators at the lab included Naohide Yatsu, Warren Lewis, and Margaret Reed Lewis. MDI Biological Laboratory was incorporated in 1914 in Maine as a non-profit scientific and educational institution. In June 1921, the lab moved to its current home on Mount Desert Island, Maine, to land purchased by Wild Gardens of Acadia, a group of philanthropists led by George Dorr and John D. Rockefeller Jr. Upon moving to Mount Desert Island, the name was changed to Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, and subsequently shortened to MDI Biological Laboratory.
