This study focused on the instructional development of an assistant professor of environmental engineering in collaboration with science education and higher education faculty members. One semester of data was collected in the assistant professor's environmental engineering laboratory class as he endeavored to address his teaching goals. Data collection included pre and post interviews with the assistant professor, students, and program coordinator, and collection of course documents, such as the course syllabus and assignments. In addition, all of the classroom sessions were observed and videotaped, and a midsemester video stimulated‐recall interview was conducted. Results show the assistant professor made growth in the areas of questioning strategies, “think time” for students, increased class participation, and the implementation of a student‐designed field research project. Implications include that new professors can benefit from peer faculty support, and they and their students can benefit when the new professors recognize the complementary nature of research and teaching.