A structured approach to onboarding undergraduate researchers in environmental microbiology laboratories

Undergraduate students must be trained in foundational microbiological techniques to successfully perform undergraduate research in environmental microbiology laboratories. Many students obtain this training during Microbiology laboratory courses, but others enter research laboratories before completing such coursework or are enrolled in departments or majors where these courses are not required. We present a brief (~2-3 week), low-cost onboarding module designed for research laboratories to introduce students to foundational techniques in environmental microbiology. Through integrated activities such as culturing from an environmental sample, colony PCR, and Sanger sequencing, students are exposed to core competencies of environmental microbiology laboratory workflows. The module also incorporates simple assessments of pipetting accuracy and aseptic technique to provide immediate feedback on technical proficiency. Completion of this module provides a structured approach for preparing undergraduate researchers to participate more effectively in research laboratory projects and builds the foundation for more advanced environmental microbiology techniques.