His research interests include the use of virtual worlds in the chemistry teaching lab and curriculum design for chemistry and nanotechnology laboratory courses. Most recently, he led an NSF-funded study to compare general chemistry lab experiments performed in Second Life and in a real laboratory setting. Students found the Second Life experiments to be enjoyable and they earned grades equal to or better than their peers performing analogous experiments in the real world. Overall, the Second Life experiments had a more positive effect on women than men, leading to them have a more favorable view of the chemistry laboratory experience overall. Read about the project's preliminary results here and view a short video featuring Dr. Wendy Keeney-Kennicutt, project coPI.