The Connectomes for Undergraduate Neuroscience Education and Learning (CUNEL) project seeks to bring cutting-edge neuroscience methods into undergraduate classrooms and laboratories in order to provide authentic research experiences.

Citizen science and the associated new technological ability to crowdsource data may be the gateway for engaging the public in the science needed for the management, protection, and stewardship of parks. We posit that citizen science could be an effective gateway to engage new groups of students in ecological science, such as students from traditionally underrepresented groups in the sciences, because the relevance and application of citizen data involves a wider dialogue on science with an increasing diverse public. This RCN brings together scholars and practitioners to explore big data initiatives at the intersections between citizen science, minority participation, student learning, and protected areas management with three main activities: 1) interdisciplinary workshops; 2) student internships that provide introductory research experience for students using citizen science data and spatial and temporal datasets, and 3) collaborative assessments of student learning experiences through the network and the creation of student learning modules based on citizen science data.

ICABL is an inclusive and collaborative community that supports the professional development of biochemistry and molecular biology scientist-educators committed to the enhancement of student learning through the development of effective, equitable assessment strategies.

The TEE network explores the unique role of a disciplinary society in encouraging education innovation and motivating a network of core volunteer leaders and distributed faculty in multiple institutions and across multiple networks.

Enhance undergraduate STEM education by promoting new and strengthening existing collaborations among biology, chemistry, and math faculty at 2- and 4-year institutions; and support faculty in transforming undergraduate STEM education.

The Biology Education Intersegmental Collaborative aids faculty learning communities consisting of 2- and 4-year partners to improve community college and transfer student outcomes. BEIC supports FLCs in implementing and assessing evidence-based practices in Biology courses or programs.

The Youth Environment Alliance in Higher Education (YEAH) Network links academic institutions together to provide integrated knowledge that empowers students to address complex global environmental problems of our time. Students in biological sciences and related fields who are trained to work on international collaborative and virtual teams will be prepared to apply their scientific knowledge to engage with border-spanning environmental issues from pollinator decline and biodiversity loss to climate shifts and ecosystem transformations. This transdisciplinary, multi-institutional network is focused on providing students with real-world experience in collaborative, evidence-based approaches to global sustainability incorporating the SDG framework into higher education programs.

The Re-Envisioning Culture Network (REC Network) is a group of diverse individuals across institutions of higher education, STEM careers, K-12 education, Black cultural spaces, the arts, and the larger community who strive to enhance the STEM experiences and outcomes of Black undergraduate students in the biological sciences. Through various activities and events, the REC Network strives to address the issue of retaining Black students in undergraduate biology by proposing and enacting strategies that transform the culture of undergraduate biology (i.e., the norms, values, beliefs, ideologies, and practices) rather than focusing on strategies to transform Black students.

In the STEMCEL network, we propose to synergize students’ learning and training while addressing community issues, where student-driven, course-based, research projects will deliver/develop rapid testing tools to identify environmental toxins/pollutants.

Our RCN-UBE seeks to develop a national network for the development and implementation of experiential-based course modules for undergraduates centered around CRISPR-Cas9 technology through offering in-person workshops and an online resource repository.

AK UNiTE is a network that supports research mentors in culturally sensitive mentoring practices, offers place-based research opportunities throughout Alaska to empower Alaskan students to become involved in biology research, and provides professional development to faculty in Alaska who want to develop and implement course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) in their classes.

The San Francisco Bay Research Coordination Network for Student Opportunities in Avian Research (SOAR) brings together faculty, students, and volunteers to implement an experiential learning and research program focused on the study of birds and their habitats in San Francisco Bay, California. The primary members include universities, non-governmental organizations, and two bird-banding stations. Undergraduate students, especially those from underserved communities, will be introduced to STEM activities in both the field and laboratory, promoting students’ appreciation of birds and their significance for ecological and human wellbeing. The central philosophy of the program is to engage students in the process of science through “learning by doing”, which allows students the opportunity to study science in direct contact with nature. The program will enhance students’ career opportunities while teaching them to be effective stewards of natural resources. The program will produce outdoor learning modules, new courses, cross-institutional sharing of educational resources, publications in research and education venues, internships, and other career-advancement opportunities.

Our goal is to establish a community of practice that invites entrepreneurs, scientists, educators, and students to share expectations, experiences, and best practices in the field of biosciences entrepreneurship.

EDU-STEM is Equity and Diversity in Undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), a network funded by the National Science Foundation to support the research-coordination efforts of those interested in equitable teaching practices in introductory biology. The EDU-STEM network is a sustained multi-institutional education research and implementation research-coordination network, initially centering on introductory biology. This network is motivated by a focus on equity and inclusion in large introductory biology courses.

The Ethics Network for Course-based Opportunities in Undergraduate Research (ENCOUR) seeks to explore effective ways to integrate responsible & ethical conduct of research (RECR) education into Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) in the biological sciences.

This is an interdisciplinary faculty community of practice, that connects immunology educators with faculty in other biology disciplines, with an intention to increase access to concept-focused immunology education across the undergraduate curriculum, and in diverse institutional settings. The group meets virtually over the Fall and Spring, to foster collaborations and mentoring, for the development, implementation, and assessment of educational resources developed by the community members. This learning community shares classroom strategies, experiences and best practices, with a particular emphasis on pedagogical methods that develop skills and conceptual knowledge in undergraduate students.

The Undergraduate Student Experiences with Citizen and Community Science Network includes educators, researchers, and project leaders excited about the use of participatory science approaches to enhance undergraduate education.

ROSE provides professional development and networking opportunities for CC and HBCU faculty.

The MCC is an inclusive national community consisting of faculty, from community colleges, MSI, PUI and Research Intensive institutions teaching and developing Course based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) to increase the number and diversity of students experiencing CUREs.

A community of educators and scholars developing and using Molecular Case Studies (MCS), to explore the molecular basis of biological phenomena, understand real world problems, and their developing solutions at the interface of biology and chemistry.

The vision of the inclusive Environments and Metrics in Biology Education and Research (iEMBER) Network is to improve biology education for learners that are often traditionally excluded from the field. Our mission is to build a network of people who are researchers, educators, and change-makers from a variety of perspectives to broaden participation in biology education research.

Biologists and Graph Interpretation (BioGraphI) is an RCN of faculty who work collaboratively to increase student persistence in biology through improving representation of diverse scientists in the curriculum and incorporating data interpretation skills.

Our network improves instructional multimedia design for biology education by fostering communication and collaboration among members of three communities: undergraduate biology instructors, creators of scientific visualizations, and education researchers.

Biological Collections in Ecology and Evolution Network (BCEENET) brings together natural history collections (NHC) professionals, undergraduate educators, data experts, and researchers to support the development and implementation of Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) using digitized natural history collections (dNHC) data. dNHC CUREs can be implemented in both online and in-person formats, and only require student access to a computer and the internet, making them available to students without access to traditional laboratory resources. BCEENET supports robust online communication between education and collections communities to promote collaboration and provides training opportunities directly supporting the CUREs. Support to develop four CUREs during summer 2020 was provided by a RAPID-COVID grant, and BCEENET has continued to offer implementer support for the CUREs ever since. Ongoing goals: 1. Broadening institutional and student participation by increasing awareness of dNHC CUREs, 2. Providing training, online resources, and peer support for CURE implementation, and 3. Connecting members across professional groups to facilitate collaboration.

BioMolViz is a community dedicated to advancing biomolecular visualization education. We provide training, teaching tools and validated visual literacy assessments. The BioMolViz Library—our online repository—delivers assessments to instructors worldwide.

The aim of TUnE-BIO is to transform assessment, feedback, and grading practices in undergraduate biology classrooms to combat “weed-out” culture and decrease inequities. Our incubator year focused on understanding the current state of play in introductory biology courses nationwide.

Quantitative Biology at Community Colleges (QB@CC) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) supported project that received funding in 2019. The long-term goal of QB@CC is to drive the disciplinary expectation that all biology courses should significantly enhance student's quantitative skills. QB@CC does this by providing educational materials and professional development for faculty. The network will generate a large collection of Open Education Resources (OERs) that may be used by anyone, and professional development programming will be designed to address many of the challenges in teaching quantitative skills. Although this network focuses on community college faculty, most of the materials generated will be appropriate for lower level biology courses in four-year institutions.

The CBEC helps faculty at PUIs move cancer cell culture research into the classroom. The mechanism that provides faculty with the resources they need to do this are modular protocols called Cell Blocks. A Cell Block contains a written protocol, a video protocol, and teaching notes that address pedagogy and assessment.

NSITE is a network of national STEM transformation organizations. The goal of NSITE is to provide a venue for these organizations, that have typically operated in parallel on projects related to shared missions, to share effective practices and join forces on recalcitrant challenges to STEM education reform.

Connecting rivers, people, & science through immersive field-based education

This was the first or second RCN-UBE award made. The Introductory Biology Project (IBP) collaborated with the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) to link introductory biology instructors at the undergraduate level with high school AP Biology teachers. This RCN led to another RCN-UBE project led by Deborah Allen (FDN-UB - Faculty Development Network for Undergraduate Biology; Award #0840911) and other projects, including the development of the first Gordon Research Conference on Undergraduate Biology Education Research in 2015.

The OCELOTS Network connects tropical biology researchers with specialists in pedagogy, 4DEE, software, and media to create and implement research-based online modules in tropical biology, fostering an international perspective in undergraduate biology.

We aim to build a sustainable network of ecologists, educators, social scientists, and students who are committed to identifying and remedying cultural and social barriers that reduce human diversity in ecology and environmental disciplines (EE). Central to our efforts are the perspectives and experiences of students who are underrepresented by racial, ethnic or cultural identities. 2022 marks the second year of our efforts and we are excited to be launching this website to share our efforts and to invite your participation to help realize our mission.

The mission of the SCORE-UBE Network is to help our Network participants achieve their sustainability and broader impact goals by working together to amplify the value and reach of open education in STEM and to align our resources and practices with the principles of anti-racism, equity, social justice, and inclusion. In particular, we see open education as an approach and mindset to transform teaching and learning to center the needs of underrepresented and marginalized learners and instructors who have been systematically excluded from the benefits of traditional educational systems.

RESCUE-Net is a network of faculty in Southern California dedicated to mentoring undergraduates in conservation research so that they can become the next generation of ecological leaders.

The mission of REMNet’s “Microbiomes for All!” is to serve as a centralized hub for information and resources on the integration of microbiome studies into the undergraduate curriculum. RemNet focusses on how microbiomes are studied and how data from microbiome projects can be analyzed by students.

The Biological and Environmental Data Education Network (BEDE Network) develops and shares teacher-training workshops, curricular designs, teaching modules, and best practices to help integrate computational data science skills into all levels of the biological and environmental sciences curriculum.