EcoWell: Smart Incubation Technology for Next-Generation Environmental Science Labs

About This Grant

Identifier: 1908301 EcoWell: Smart Incubation Technology for Next-Generation Environmental Science Labs Project Summary Overview: The EcoWell™ platform addresses a critical gap in environmental science education by introducing a novel, affordable, and accessible classroom tool that models environmental conditions in real time. Built around a modular micro-incubation system, the platform empowers students to explore the biological effects of environmental pollutants and measure related biological endpoints. These environmental stressors are increasingly prevalent due to systemic pollution, habitat degradation, and industrial activity, yet remain underrepresented in K–12 science curricula. The Need: Systemic pollution has become a significant threat to public and environmental health. Despite the urgency of these issues, educational infrastructure has not kept pace with the tools needed to effectively engage students in hands-on learning about toxicological processes, bioremediation, and environmental monitoring. Traditional science classroom kits are often linear, rigid, and fail to replicate real-world complexity or generate meaningful data. Moreover, students frequently lack the tools to interpret experimental results, assess sources, or connect local phenomena to regional, national, and global systems. Innovation and Impact: EcoWell™ is a transformative tool that enables students to simulate, manipulate, and analyze complex environmental scenarios using compact, programmable six-well incubation chambers. Each chamber is capable of independently controlling and measuring variables such as temperature, ultraviolet light and CO₂ levels, and gas exchange—parameters critical to understanding pollution’s biological impact. This modularity supports a wide variety of experimental applications: students can assess bacterial growth under UV-induced DNA stress, explore algal blooms in nutrient-loaded water, or measure plant response to synthetic pollutants. The platform is paired with a suite of NGSS-aligned educational kits covering a range of NIEHS-relevant topics such as: Bioremediation using duckweed to extract nitrates and heavy metals, Water sterilization and pathogen load mitigation using UV radiation, Gas exchange and oxidative stress modeling, Growth response of model organisms under pollutant and light stress conditions. By offering customizable experimentation and quantifiable outputs, EcoWell™ bridges the gap between basic science education and environmental toxicology, preparing students for STEM careers while improving environmental literacy. Alignment with NIEHS Goals: EcoWell™ aligns with NIEHS's mission to understand how environmental exposures affect human health by educating future generations in exposure biology, toxicology, and environmental systems thinking. The system gives students the skills to explore real-world questions with real-time data, and to connect experimental results to ongoing public health and environmental challenges.