Today’s students are part of a pivotal generation shaped by the climate crisis. Empowering them with a solid evidence-based worldview is key to creating a better future. Here we present a framework for engaging students, beginning with the development of a research project and ending with delivery of results back to the community. We started by identifying students’ passions, skills, and interests and connecting with local organizations to find research opportunities. Students did research projects and collaborated with community stakeholders. We partner with -0-the Florida House Institute (FHI), a sustainable demonstration home in Sarasota, FL. FHI showcases ways for homeowners to improve home energy efficiency, land fertility, and watershed health. We formed the FL Urban Microbiome Project in response to a lack of understanding about how land management impacts the urban microbiome. Since then, our team has gained valuable data on soil characteristics, land management, plant diversity, and soil microbial community composition at FHI. Students devised sampling methods, conducted plant inventories, assessed management activities, sampled for soil microbial diversity, and measured soil carbon content. As a result, students documented that FHI’s one-acre lot housed 98 unique plant species, displayed differential soil carbon storage across plant species and management types, and experienced drastic seasonal changes in soil bacterial communities. Students presented these findings to members of the community, gaining professional experience and broadening their career perspectives.