Water is the most local of global problems, and we all face issues concerning water, from water scarcity to water security, from floods to drought, and from polluted water to remediated wastewater. In Texas, where I live and teach, conversations about water occur every day as our communities tackle the challenges of ongoing drought, protecting our precious aquifers, and the growing need to reuse water sources such as wastewater effluent.
This ongoing wicked problem presents an opportunity for those of us who teach through issues. We can engage with the topic of water and connect the issues we’re encountering to the context of a biology, chemistry, or English literature class. I’ve long used water issues to “CURE” my teaching through classroom-based research involving local ponds, rivers, and wastewater plants. Sanitation and toilet design can spark discourse about pathogen transmission, antimicrobial contamination, and the inequities faced by those who lack access to safe sanitation. When done well, integrated projects and research experiences can generate meaningful data while helping to prepare career-ready students to tackle the concerns of the very communities they come from.
This special section offers a sample of how our educators are integrating water-related issues into their courses. Alexis Denn and Davida Smyth of Texas A&M University-San Antonio show how a partnership between a local wastewater treatment plant and a local high school can lead to data-rich, contextualized case studies. Their work demonstrates not only how nature-based solutions can encourage communities to engage with and embrace these practices, but also how students themselves can become involved in generating the data.
Christine Girtain of the Jersey Shore STEM Ecosystem and Jane Hunt of Ashland University take us from engaging students to engaging teachers. Their paper shows how the “Nourish the Future” national initiative has been developed by teachers for teachers. It takes students on a journey from watershed processes to more complex analyses and investigations, examining human impacts, biological indicators, and chemical testing, and even prompting them to consider remediation plans. Importantly, students are asked what the evidence shows.
Jeena Joseph of Palo Alto College shows that integrating the film Dark Waters into the curriculum can help students engage with complex chemical concepts and the issues surrounding PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals.” Having students create research posters and participate in a short REU experience also affects students’ perceptions of and engagement with chemistry.
All of these projects start locally and leverage real data from places that students and their teachers see every day, rather than far-away, hypothetical places they’ll likely never visit. They ask students to decide, take responsibility, and do something: write a memo, develop a remediation plan, or advocate for a position. They build partnerships with real-world entities and utilities outside academia. Our authors span K–12, community college, and university settings, moving across the educational landscape. And they all consider issues of equity, access to clean water, who benefits from green infrastructure, and how agricultural advancements impact communities. These projects epitomize the SENCER ideals by teaching through the issues of water.
Our authors have shown that living laboratories are everywhere around us. They are the local creek or pond, the community garden that our grandparents tend, and the local farmers’ market. I hope the work presented in this special section will spark excitement and encourage our readers to find the living laboratories on their campuses and in their communities, and to share what they learn with us in future issues.
Davida Smyth
Chair of Natural Sciences
Director for Research Development and Administration
Professor of Biology
Texas A&M University-San Antonio