In recent years, providing authentic and unique research experiences for undergraduates has become increasingly important, yet many educational institutions struggle to provide their students with such experiences. Engaging students in hands-on research is meant to increase their problem-solving skills and help them learn how to work in a collaborative environment. Unfortunately, many students never receive a genuine research experience in their undergraduate biology courses. We developed a semester-long, laboratory-based research project in which students worked in groups to investigate the prevalence of fish mislabeling in local restaurants and grocery stores using DNA barcoding. During the experimental process, students learned fundamental molecular techniques like DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction, gel electrophoresis, and DNA sequence analysis. Students also developed soft skills linked to working in teams and science communication. Over the course of the project, students collected their own fish samples and were responsible for their team's lab workflow throughout the semester. Some groups (12/25) identified instances of mislabeling on the basis of DNA evidence. Students synthesized their results in a full scientific manuscript and ended the semester by disseminating their results in a class-wide poster symposium. Collectively, the students documented that ~21% (26/123) of the fish samples they had collected from local restaurants and at grocery stores in the Greater Lansing area were mislabeled. This project gave students the time and space needed to master molecular techniques (often through trial and error), and it engaged them in a place-based learning setting as they investigated the incidence of fish mislabeling in their local community.

Place-based instruction allows students to explore learned concepts while building emotional connections with the location in which they are studying. Furthermore, the case for experiential science education continues to grow, and such pedagogy may be particularly beneficial to learning in ecology and environmental science. We present an experiential, place-based pedagogy aimed at introducing international high school or undergraduate students to the concept of biological invasions. Our lesson began by introducing our class, a group of Chinese high school students in a summer program in the United States, with examples of invasive species that had previously been introduced from China into the United States or vice versa. Guided discussion then focused on plant and animal species with which the students had some familiarity and covered concepts of biological invasions more generally. Next, students participated in a field activity exploring the ecology of the invasive tumbleweed Salsola tragus , a Eurasian (including much of China) species that has invaded the United States. Through classroom and field activity, students gained understanding of biological invasions, and we believe that internalization was enhanced by connecting the lesson with students' own experiences and participation in basic scientific methods and ecological fieldwork.

Solving conservation problems requires students to apply their knowledge of ecology and evolution. We present the Endangered Species Conservation through Habitat Suitability Analysis Laboratory Activity , in which students perform habitat suitability analyses for endangered freshwater species, compelling application of ecological and evolutionary principles. Students gather natural history information for endangered species native to Illinois, synthesize publicly available GIS/map data and habitat requirements for an endangered species, and present evidence-based proposals identifying geographical regions that should be set aside for protection. Students discuss current freshwater conservation issues and develop conceptual understanding of evolution, ecology, and conservation principles and processes. Students are prompted to consider human inclusion in freshwater ecosystems and its consequences. This laboratory investigation is effective in highlighting naïve conceptions of ecology, evolution, and conservation because students are prompted to provide rationale for their management decisions and engage in scientific discourse as they conduct their habitat suitability analyses.