The Cottrell Scholar program was created to champion the very best early career teacher-scholars in chemistry, physics and astronomy. Within that program, the TREE award (Transformational Research and Excellence in Education) from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement recognizes the exceptional work in the integration of research and education of the pool of Cottrell Scholars. Many Cottrell Scholars continue to push boundaries in their education and outreach work in addition to their research. That community has organized into the Cottrell Scholars Collaborative (CSC). This self-organized collection of Cottrell Scholars work together to identify and tackle high-priority educational projects of national importance, often in collaboration with partner organizations.

As new faculty seek to cultivate impactful projects for future CAREER grant submissions and their local institution, it seemed useful to provide a broader audience with the scope and scale of work from Cottrell Scholars and the Collaborative. Within this first volume, there are examples of an array of programs that focus on advances in education as well as improving representation, which are presented here because efforts are often synergistic in these two areas. While there have and continue to be significant challenges, the authors demonstrate that early, thoughtful intervention with research can have tremendous impact on students regardless of institution type.