The First2 Network is an alliance of institutions across West Virginia striving to support rural, first-generation, and underrepresented college students in STEM. Past faculty have mentored students in their lab for two weeks, prior to the student beginning their freshman year, initiating the students’ STEM network and providing their first research opportunity. Due to COVID-19, we designed a collaborative research project that would be done from the students’ home with materials that could be mailed. We used a citizen science project (EarthEcho Water Challenge) to test water quality parameters and sent students microscopes to identify microorganisms in the sampled water. We met virtually each morning and discussed research topics such as Microscope Training, Developing Hypotheses, etc. Early afternoons were set aside for students to collect samples, identify microorganisms, and input data into a shared database. Late afternoons were reserved for professional development, and evenings for team building activities led by student mentors. The two-week session culminated in presentations based on hypotheses and analyses the students designed collaboratively. Students were asked to complete a survey before (n=5) and after (n=4) the research experience, which revealed increased (p<0.05) rating of “knowledge of research”, and “research skills” subscales. Students also reported that the experience made them “excited to enter a STEM field” and they “better understood the process of conducting research”. Faculty felt the common database and shared data collection techniques facilitated in fostering a good group dynamic and permitted the students to engage in metacognition about research, rather than learning a specific technique.