The overarching goal of this project is to better prepare our science students for the complex, real-world problems they will encounter in academia, government, or industry; problems that require strong quantitative skills and a thorough, realistic understanding of scientific inquiry. We are inspired by David Orr’s example of using university facilities as laboratories to teach real-world solutions to problems and Andrew Baldwin’s exemplary wetlands ecology course. Our adaptation and implementation of their ideas will involve classes in four disciplines (geography, biology, chemistry, and geology) studying Radford University’s wetland ecosystem constructed to treat storm water run-off.