A Course-Based Research Experience that Explores Water Quality, Land Use, & Biodiversity Within a Four-Dimensional Ecology Education Framework

The implementation of a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) in ecology that meets the Four-Dimensional Ecology Education (4DEE) framework is described in this paper. CUREs positively impact student engagement, persistence, and scientific skill development, but ecology-focused CUREs for introductory courses are less common due to barriers such as the expertise and time required to collect a meaningful amount of data in the field. This CURE uses online data sources and focuses on the degradation of water quality and loss of fish biodiversity due to land use practices. Relationships and patterns in the data were explored by students for authentic results, leading to production of a manuscript and presentation. This CURE is described as an 8-week project and was incorporated into two courses and resulted in presentations at professional conferences. The CURE can be adapted for introductory courses for biology majors and non-majors and is presented in a weekly time frame. The CURE integrates with all dimensions of the 4DEE framework but heavily emphasizes the ecology practices and human-environment intervention dimensions due to human welfare concerns related to access to clean water. We propose that the goals of CUREs align strongly with 4DEE framework implementation.