Visible Local Stakeholders in a Natural Resources Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience in General Chemistry II Laboratory

Abstract

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) bring undergraduate research into the existing curriculum to make the benefits equitable and inclusive. Despite research showing the benefits of CUREs in life and physical science, few are implemented in first-year courses. This article presents the design of a natural resource-based CURE in a General Chemistry II laboratory. We partnered with a local research institute, centering the CURE research projects on biochar, a high carbon material made from biomass. We show how we implemented each component of a CURE (broad relevance, scientific practices, iteration, collaboration, and novel discovery) for our course.