Students in water chemistry course support campus sustainability through water monitoring and outreach projects.
For students studying chemistry, some level of hands-on learning is generally a given. Lab work is an essential part of the subject, and students can often expect opportunities to don a pair of goggles and recreate the chemical reactions they’ve read about in textbooks.
Even more impactful than seeing these reactions up close is a chance to apply them outside of the classroom.
In winter quarter 2025, students in a University of Washington Bothell course, Special Topics in Chemistry: Aqueous Environmental Chemistry, got to do just that. And while students expected to walk away with a working knowledge of water chemistry, they didn’t know they’d be partnering with the campus Office of Sustainability on real-world projects.