Using issues of water to CURE your teaching: STEM education is civic education

Today's faculty are under enormous pressure, expected to balance teaching, research, and service as time and resources shrink, public trust in science erodes, and the return on university investment is being challenged. As the 2025 Carski Award recipient, I argue that a single pedagogical approach can simultaneously address and alleviate all these pressures. Drawing on Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER), Classroom Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs), and Project-Based Learning (PBL), I describe three practical tips that use issues of water to reorganize your microbiology courses that leverage living laboratories in your neighborhood, the civic issues of sanitation access, and student engagement and training in wastewater-based epidemiology. Each approach helps develop disciplinary knowledge, enhances students' communication skills, and hones technical competencies in high demand among public health authorities, environmental agencies, and beyond. Teaching this way generates authentic scientific data and broadens participation in research. Critically, it demonstrates the value and uniqueness of a university education.