Higher Education

Hi All,

I'm sharing this survey that Juliana Vidal has been disseminating to GCC/GCTLC-related folks. 

Please take the time to quickly fill it out if you are a GCC signer interested in further bridging education, research, and service in Green Chem in Higher Ed.

👩🏻‍🔬 Bridging Education...

Hi everyone,

Our institution is working to meet the late-spring deadline to make all of our curricular materials more accessible, such that they meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 

https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/

I am wondering what folks in this community are doing to address this, either in their...

How can research labs, student projects, and procurement policies synergize to form a circular, regenerative model of higher education? Share real initiatives or blueprints.

Anyone aware of green inorganic chemistry curriculum implementations? Feel free to share!

How can research labs, student projects, and procurement policies synergize to form a circular, regenerative model of higher education? Share real initiatives or blueprints.

Hi All,

I am tackling a ligand synthesis that is bugging me, and thinking about greener acids. How "Green" are the common strong acids? (HCl, HNO3, H2SO4, HBr, HI, HClO4, etc). I know nitric makes NOx and perchlorates are bad for the environmant. I love HOTs hydrate because it's...

Metal nanoparticles have shown immense potential in catalysis, medicine, and environmental applications—but their conventional synthesis often involves toxic solvents and hazardous reducing agents. How is your lab or institution approaching the greener synthesis of metal nanoparticles? Are you exploring plant extracts, deep eutectic solvents, or other sustainable alternatives? Let’s exchange...

The Guardian covered this research today (see also the University of Edinburgh's news release). They used a strain of e coli to turn polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste into the active ingredient in paracetamol (acetaminophen for those of us in the U.S.) in less than 24 hours. The new technique...

Real Talk on Chemistry Careers & Battery Industry Trends with...yours truly! 
I was recently a guest on the Bench Boost podcast, where I talk about why and how shifted my scientific career towards sustainability and energy (in particular, see minute 8:40 for when host Mike Booth asks me about...

Hello everyone, I am participating in a committee to restructure all experimental disciplines in our department. We are starting with the general experimental chemistry discipline and would like suggestions for experiments. I have checked the available materials, but I would like to know if you are doing other experiments.

Researchers at Rice University have developed a new method for performing chemical reactions using water instead of toxic solvents. The scientists created microscopic reactors capable of driving light-powered chemical processes by designing metal complex surfactants (MeCSs) that self-assemble into nanoscale spheres called micelles. This innovation could drastically reduce pollution in...

University of Delaware researchers from the Center for Plastics Innovation and the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, led by Dion Vlachos, Unidel Dan Rich Chair in Energy, have developed a method to tackle end-of-life tire decontamination from 6PPD. 
 

The researchers recently published their approach in Nature Chemical Engineering...

Hi everyone! 

I am wondering if anyone covers the topic of entrepreneurship and/or pathways towards founding startups in your undergrad chemistry courses. If so, to which depth do you include the topic? pros/cons?

We have a 'sustainability in chemistry' 3rd year elective and are disccusing whether it would...

This forum is for anyone from a Minority-Serving Institution in the US to share anything related to green chemistry education, including but not limited to: best practices, questions, comments, reflections, and resources specific to MSIs! 

Please also feel free to use this space for any questions about Beyond Benign's...

Hi Everyone!

I recently came across this systematic literature review from 2021 that might be of interest to any instructors looking for teaching experiments that integrate of green chemistry principles into experimental work from primary to tertiary education levels. It gives a summary of ~263 papers from 1995 to...

Freshwater oysters produce an adhesive that may hold the secret to developing more environmentally friendly glues with applications from dental care to construction and shipping. 

Metzler and her team found that the oyster glue is so sticky because it combines aragonite with special proteins that the oyster produces. This...

Greetings, 

The ACS CHED Committee on Computers in Chemical Education is organizing a collaboratively taught intercollegiate OnLine Data Chemistry course.  Please see the attached PDF or this JCE Article on the Cheminformatics OLCC for further information. 

You do not need to know coding, but you will be exposed...

Hello GCTLC Community, I would like to connect with experts in the field of carbon dioxide capture and utilization, especially either using ionic liquids or deep eutectic solvents.

I would like to ask some questions and benchmark best practices. Thank you so much!

Hi All,

What mechanochemistry reactions have you tried in green chemistry? I have a flacktek speed mixer, a type of ball mill, and have been playing with trying reactions of solids or solids with minimal solvent (Liquid-assisted grinding). One limitation of this ball mill is it only does 5...

Hi All,

I wanted to start a thread to discuss microwave chem in teaching or research at colleges/universities. I've got a CEM Discover I've been using in research and started bringing it into my teaching lab via a CURE in Inorganic. I am also going to test out an...

Hi!

My department asked me to design an upper division (400 level) course on water chemistry.  My intention is to design a project-based course with a potential for community engagement with local partners. The course will center around water pollution and touch upon UN SDGs and systems thinking. 

 ...

This is a new recourse I came across at BCCE.  This appears to be a database of organic environmental contaminants and experimentally observed microbial pathways that degrade these chemicals.  It is also a prediction system for new contaminants.  At the BCCE the speaker mentioned that there are 219 million (!)...

A recent article in J Chem Ed will be of interest to those who work with graduate students or who are graduate students.

EmmaLee Pallai, Mikaila C. Hoffman, and Gabriela S. Schlau-Cohen (2024). "Values Are More Than Statements: Connecting Actions to Values to Build Inclusive Cultures in Chemistry Research...

This forum will be used for sharing insights, discussing ideas, and posing questions related to the Greener Curriculum ShowCase Series workshops. Participants can exchange experiences, provide feedback, and seek advice on implementing green chemistry principles in their curriculum. Additionally, the forum will serve as a platform for networking with peers...

Hi everyone! I am creating this forum to share some opportunities related to green and sustainable chemistry research. From my side, I'm working as an Associate Editor from Thieme called Sustainability & Circularity NOW and we have full discount waivers for articles published until September 30th, 2024. Follow this link...

This forum will be used to share resources and connect educators interested in using the ChemFORWARD module in teaching their students about Chemical Hazard Evaluation, Assessment and Safer Alternatives in academic settings. The module uses different examples and assessments to teach students about identifying and evaluating chemical and environmental hazards...

If your interest is in the area of catalysis and/or nanomaterials, please see the following link below:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-63040-9

With the EPA's recent near ban on methylene chloride (https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/risk-management-methylene-chloride) I'm taking the opportunity to eliminate it from our curriculum.  The experiments that use it as a solvent are easier to find greener chemicals for, but we have one density demo that I'm finding difficult to alter.  

Currently, the...

I am interested in creating a course about chemical allergies, in particular allergic contact dermatitis, otherwise known as contact allergies or skin allergies. I have developed a number of educational pictoral books on this topic, some with the help of medical doctors, professors, and allergy parents. I am now looking...

This forum is for graduate and undergraduate students to connect with each other and professionals across the globe to discuss bringing green chemistry into student life, specifically through teaching (teaching assistantships, education fellowships, etc.) and service (outreach activities, green chemistry student groups, etc.).

Below is the link to the article if you are interested to take a look:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s44286-024-00067-9

Hi everyone! I am thrilled to let you know that our 10-year Green Chemistry Commitment paper is now here in the GCTLC! This paper is part of the 25th Anniversary Collection of the RSC Green Chemistry journal, and it's also considered a 2024 Green Chemistry Hot Article! 🔥 Let's go...

I am looking into getting a solvent recycler for my organic teaching lab.  I've asked for quotes from several companies (only one has responded), but I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on ones they have used or liked.  I am mostly looking to recycle acetone and alcohols.  

Thank you!

Good evening,

   Can anyone help me or tell me where the best place to find information about applying green chemistry to electrochemistry that would utilize Arduino?  I am trying to come up with a project for undergraduate students.  Have a good day and weekend.

Conrad

For those who are interested in biofuels, please see the following link for the article of interest.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-47591-z

Hello everyone,

    EPA has a funding opportunity in the "Advancing Sustainable Chemistry".  Please see the link below for details regarding the call for proposals in this area.

https://www.epa.gov/research-grants/advancing-sustainable-chemistry

Hello everyone,

   Hope you find this article interesting:  The title of the paper is "Electrochemical hydrogenation and oxidation of organic species involving water"

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41570-024-00589-z

Hello everyone,

    Does anyone know of any programs/industries that are looking for undergraduate students for summer internships in green chemistry?

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) and Change Chemistry (formerly the Green Chemistry & Commerce Council, GC3) co-hosted the Sustainable Chemistry in RD&D [research, development, and demonstration] to Transform the Chemicals Sector Roundtable on March 7, 2023. 

The event brought together about 50...

Have you come across a recent or old publication in the literature that highlights green chemistry principles in the undergraduate teaching laboratory?! If so, you can add these resources to the GCTLC by linking out to the article like I've done here. 

While we can't re-post articles due...

Recently, the International Day of Zero Waste passed, observed annually on 30 March. Considering the relevance of green chemistry and its direct connection with the 12 principles of green chemistry, this topic is perfect to be addressed by chemists. I am teaching a course on Green and Sustainable Chemistry, and...

Hi all,

I teach an advanced organic synthesis course for junior and senior undergrads and am always looking for new ways to make the course greener. Are there any resources (books, educational materials, etc.) anyone might recommend that I consider? The course progresses from looking at a few historical syntheses...

Hey everyone! Creating this forum thread as a space for anyone from the community to share resources that help address the recently updated ACS guidelines with respect to integrating green chemistry and sustainability in undergraduate coursework! We created a few pages on the GCTLC as working documents and as a...

The article below was published at the end of 2023 and may be of great interest to you.

https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/green-chemistry-sustainability-2024/791856

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded nearly $3 million in total to  six universities to create curricula and programs that will train students to discover and develop solutions to problems presented by our current approaches to the production and consumption of plastics...

Hey, just wondering if anyone out there has an interest or drive to explore the interest of NSF to support a Center for Chemical Innovation in a green chemistry-based topic. Thanks for any feedback!

Hi All,

Has anyone used Green Chem Metrics (E factor, DOZN, LCA, etc.) in your classes or research?

If so, what did you use to teach the students about it/what activity did you do with them? 

Any and all resources appreciated! 

I want to incorporate this...

This article is very interesting.  Click on link: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c01426

South Dakota State researchers recently published a paper describing how waste banana peels can be turned into biodegradable plastic films. The researchers have previously done the same thing with avocado skins. Read the news release from South Dakota State University.

Hoque, M., & Janaswamy, S. (2024). "Biodegradable packaging...

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone had any resources that talked about the outlook for Green Chemistry  jobs?  We are trying to establish a green chemistry minor at our institution and am writing the justification statement.

Hi everyone, 

I'm a symposium organizer for the upcoming fall ACS meeting in Denver. My symposium falls under the Division of Chemical Education (CHED). The title (above) is: "Infusing Green Chemistry and Sustainability into the Undergraduate Curriculum". I would love it if you know of anyone interested in giving a talk about...

Please share the link below for anyone student wanting to study for a one year Masters in Green Chemistry & Sustainable Industrial Technology at the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence, Department of Chemistry, University of York, UKhttps://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/courses/msc-green-chemistry-sustainable-industrial-tech/

The Green Chemistry Initiative (GCI) is a student-run organization within the University of Toronto's Department of Chemistry, dedicated to fostering sustainability in chemistry research and education. Since our inception in September 2012, GCI has become a trusted hub for green chemistry information, hosting a Seminar Series, an annual Symposium, and...

Northwestern University researchers recently published a paper about a new catalyst they developed which not only quickly, cleanly and completely breaks down Nylon-6 in a matter of minutes without generating harmful byproducts but also doesn't require toxic solvents, expensive materials, or extreme conditions, making it practical for everyday applications. Read...

This semester, I'm developing and teaching (from scratch) a course in Green Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry and Climate Change for our chemical engineering undergraduates. Thanks to the Yale-UNIDO Green Chemistry University Course resources, as well as everything I learned at the recent conference in LA, I have been able to put together...

This forum space is for the faculty, staff and students of the Beyond Benign Green Chemistry Commitment (GCC) program to connect! 

Please note that as of April 2025, GCC Signers have been migrated to an invite-only group space here: https://gctlc.org/group/green-chemistry-commitment-signers 

Not sure if your institution is a...

This forum will be used to collect information and feedback about an "Intro to Green Chemistry” on-demand “certification” for faculty currently under development by Beyond Benign with support of Deborah Bromfield Lee - GCC signing faculty from Florida Southern College.