Microplastic contamination of the environment is a major concern but detecting such contamination presents a challenge, particularly for particles <0.1 mm in size. Community scientists and students who participated in a plankton monitoring program and routinely examined samples of seawater using brightfield microscopy, often found fragments and…

Students at two-year colleges and small four-year colleges have often obtained their exposure to NMR spectroscopy through "canned" spectra because the cost of an NMR spectrometer, particularly a high-field spectrometer, is prohibitive in these environments. This article describes the design of a NMR site at Trinity University in which…

Two-year colleges (2YCs) provide a significant amount of chemical education to undergraduates in the United States. By design, the charge of the 2YCs is to provide coursework at the lower-division level. Nonetheless, general chemistry courses in 2YCs can be enhanced with content to prepare future chemistry majors for upper-division education. The…

A model for a shared nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) facility between a private university and two local community colleges is presented. The discussion of the components required for the shared facility, modes of data distribution, and overall effect on the curriculum is presented.