Barb Morra

Associate Professor, Teaching Stream

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University of Toronto, St. George Campus

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Bio

Barb Morra is an Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto. Barb’s passion for chemistry and teaching translate into her pedagogical research and curriculum development initiatives which have resulted in a suite of research-based laboratory experiments, activities, and technological tools that help undergraduate students connect chemistry with research and applications. To further these efforts, Barb actively works with undergraduate and graduate students in pedagogical projects. Barb’s interest in green and sustainable principles has led her to transform chemistry education within her department through a variety of initiatives that have been recognized through the Green Chemistry Commitment program. Her role within several international green chemistry programs has allowed her to foster a green chemistry education community that empowers global educators to make meaningful changes in their teaching. Examples include her roles as an assessment consultant for the Green & Sustainable Chemistry Education Module Development Project and curriculum developer for the Toxicology for Chemists Program.

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GCTLC Roles

Advisory Committee
Learning Object Peer Reviewers

Beyond Benign Roles

GCC Champion

Languages

English

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Published


Title	Authors and Co-authors	Published on
Putting the squeeze on imine synthesis: citrus juice as a reaction medium in the introductory organic laboratory	Manisha Nigam, Barb Morra, [email protected]	Oct 25, 2024
12 - Case Studies, ChemToxTidbits, “Grab Bag” Folder (Toxicology for Chemists - Module 12)	Beyond Benign, Barb Morra	Oct 25, 2023

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Recent Activity

Barb Morra was just tagged in a comment: Hi Celeste,I completely hear you! I had the same problem when trying to integrate the 12 principles into my Chemistry for Engineers course. My one piece of advice is to start small. Don't try to cover all the principles in the course the first time you introduce them. Maybe pick a few chemistry topics where there is an easy connection to a green chemistry example or principle. What I tried to do was follow the approach by @Barb Morra, introducing Green Chem and Sustainable Tidbits in relevant lectures. Barb Morra has created a bunch of ChemToxTidbits that are accessible as a learning object in the GCTLC. Then, to emphasize the importance of learning about these green and sustainable chemistry applications, I created a bonus assignment where students could choose a peer-reviewed article that describes an application of green chemistry and had to write a short report on how these concepts relate to the concepts discussed in the course and what principles are being used in the research. Some students really appreciated having the opportunity to explore an application that they were interested in.I found this was a good first step to getting green and sustainable chemistry into the course without redesigning the entire course (I also had constraints with teaching alongside another contract instructor - we had to cover the same chemistry content and midterms and final had to be similar). The bonus marks is where I had some freedom. Hope this helps! And happy to provide you with some specific examples that I used in my course if interested and depending on what you teach!Best,Alisha ...
Barb Morra was just tagged in a comment: Hi Michelle, thanks and yes, you could certainly join a bit late! There is greater benefit to attending the full workshop, but it is not absolutely necessary. The first 15 min will be intros and icebreakers, and then 8:15-9:15 will be an intro to GC principles and theory as well as overview of accreditation guidelines. I'd recommend registering anyway just to get your name on the list (it helps us know who's coming and sense of numbers), but please do swing by once you're free. We put a cap of 60 people as we weren't sure how much space we'd have, but from the MTCC website I think we can accommodate just over 100 people in the room so there'll be lots of space. Curious to hear from my co-organizers as well @Monica Soma Hensley @David Laviska @Barb Morra @kylie.luska @John De Backere....
Barb Morra was just tagged in a comment: The abstract submission deadline for the Canadian Societies for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering 2026 Conferences and Exhibition (CSC x2026) has been extended to Tuesday February 10th, 2026 at 11:59pm. We encourage any chemistry or engineering educators working to incorporate green and sustainable chemistry into their teaching practices to submit to our symposium:Green and Sustainable Practices and Engineering Education (hosted by Chemical Education and the CIC Green Division).Thanks to my co-organizers @Barb Morra, @kylie.luska , @Jonathon Moir and @Monica Soma Hensley for helping to put this symposium together!Submit your abstract at https://lnkd.in/enbe84SW Image ...
Barb Morra was just tagged in a comment: Wondering if @kylie.luska might have any insight from some of the undergrad labs at U of T? I feel like @[email protected] or @Barb Morra might also have some insights from their 2nd or 3rd year orgo courses...?...
Barb Morra was just tagged in a comment: I'll be at the Canadian Chemistry Conference & Exhibition (CSC) in Ottawa next week! There will be a bunch of green chemistry content, with some organic focus too. We have a symposium on Thursday morning around teaching green chemistry at the undergraduate level and there will be some organic content. @Barb Morra will be there with me and will also be presenting at our student workshop on Tuesday re: some of the work from the University of Toronto, including this recent work on using citrus juice as a reaction medium for imine synthesis. I believe there's also some other sessions at the conference (see program overview here), including a look at recent advances in photochemistry for organic transformations. Hopefully see some of you there?...
Barb Morra was just tagged in a comment: There has been a lot of work at University of Toronto with getting green chemistry into thier laboratory courses. @Barb Morra @John De Backere @Andy Dicks @Jessica D'eon @kylie.luska could you share what you have been doing at UofT in your gen chem labs?...
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