Many bacteria harbor “microcompartments” to help them use unusual food sources, yet very little is known about how these microcompartments are built from their protein components, or how they work. Because both beneficial and harmful bacteria use microcompartments, understanding their assembly and mechanisms of action could allow us to engineer bacterial strains to combat chemical pollution and carbon dioxide surpluses, or conversely to design antibiotics less likely to promote widespread resistance. The project combines cryo-electron tomography, mathematical modeling and simulation, and biochemical assays to develop a model of how these large protein assemblies are built, mature, and function. This research is part of an increasing trend toward interdisciplinary science, yet many students struggle to cross traditional scientific divisions. Therefore, the project also includes an education plan focused on developing the necessary skills to analyze and interpret the various types of research data in the molecular life sciences. Group-based projects with raw data will be developed for a large enrollment Bioanalytical Chemistry class. “Best practices” methods will be published for use by other educators. The best-studied and simplest microcompartment known is the alpha-carboxysome, which allows ocean bacteria to utilize CO2 to build sugars for metabolism. The carboxysome has a protein shell and contains just two enzymes: carbonic anhydrase that converts ocean bicarbonate to