The purchase of an ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer will enable a series of laboratory exercises in courses ranging from Crime Lab Chemistry to Modern Scientific Methods. The exercises will enable students both to learn laboratory skills and to design independent research projects. The Institute for Science Education and Science Communication has a well established history of training individuals in the media communication and teaching professions. A significant proportion of these students are minorities and women. The Institute for Science Education and Science Communication sees as its mission the ongoing education of the public in science through the education of Columbia College communications and teaching degree program students. Students are encouraged to incorporate their major fields of study, personal interests, hobbies and cultural backgrounds along with the use of state-of-the-art analytical instrumentation in projects that may take the form of Paintings, films, videos, dances, theatrical performances, poems, photoessays or even sculptures.