Upper level electives within the traditional undergraduate chemistry curriculum are often used to introduce and prepare promising students for careers in research.  Unfortunately, costly equipment and/or well established research programs are limited at undergraduate institutions focused on teaching.  In an effort to provide quality research experiences, students were asked to identify and evaluate all of the known Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) used in industrial and/or government regulatory labs for the analysis of an analyte of their choosing.  Based upon available equipment and chemicals, students selected and carried out several iterations of the SOP to ensure proficiency and to establish the experimental boundaries of the technique.  Once competent, students were asked to conduct research in one of two ways:  either collect and make measurements on samples from their community or modify the procedure for the purposes of improving the results.  This work will spotlight both research examples and will focus on the student experience with an emphasis on learning outcomes as well as the challenges for both the student and mentor.  <br/>

Standard operating procedures as a means for preparing undergraduate students for careers in chemical research

2019 Spring National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.